Almost Demon
by Pharies
Summary: She's known the Okumura boys since she was little. She's been training to be an exorcist for years for reasons kept secret. She's been best friends with Yukio and kept from Rin just as long. But when Akira Himura starts at True Cross Academy, her world gets turned on its head. And how does an amulet from her grandmother play into this? Kinda AU because of OC. Slight OOC for canon.
1. Pro-Ch1: Scarlet Bound-Starting Academy

Disclaimer: I do not own _Blue Exorcist,_ nor do I own any recognisable material throughout this story.

 _Prologue: Scarlet Bound_

She was running away from something. She didn't know what, but her mother was chasing her as well. She saw an open gate and crossed into what looked like an open courtyard. When she looked up, the spire had something hanging from it.

"Akira!" her mother shouted as she was scooped up into her arms. Mayu Himura turned around and started heading back toward the sidewalk. "Why did you run out of the store? When we get home, your grandmother is going to have a-"

"Excuse me. Is there something I can help you with?" a man asked. Akira looked beyond her mother and saw a man in all black with a cross around his neck. He had a pin that matched her mother's attached to his shirt. Her mother turned to face him.

"My apologies, Paladin Fujimoto. I didn't realize this was your monestary." Her mother bowed her head.

"Mayu Yoshida? Is that really you?" Her mother looked at the man. "Ma, come in. You must meet my boys. They're lovely. Rin's a bit of a handful, but Yukio is so quiet sometimes it's almost like only having one child." Akira's eared perked up. She was friends with a Yukio who had a brother named Rin before they moved to London a few years ago.

"I can't, Shiro." Akira didn't understand why her mother was being so cold to this man. "I have to get Akira home. It's not s-" a loud screeching cut off her mother. A large scarlet bird started to swoop down onto the monastery only to be unable to get passed the gates. It was at least the size of a toddler. Her mother put her down quickly. "Kira, go inside." Her mother was calm.

"But, mummy, that bird is my favorite color! I want to get a better look at it!" The bird swooped again. It seemed to be bouncing off of an invisible barrier.

"Little Akira, why don't you go inside and find my son, Yukio? He was coloring when I left him. Maybe you can draw the pretty red bird for your mummy, hm?"

"Oh, really? That sounds lovely! What room is he in?"

"Well, I think it would be a little complicated to tell you, so why don't you go find one of my fellow priests to help you." Shiro looked at her sheepishly like he didn't really know where his son was, but Akira didn't care. She was already running to the closest door.

"Yukio!" she called as she tore through the door just as something shattered like glass. The screeching happened again, but Akira already had the door closing behind her. Another man dressed like Paladin Fujimoto emerged and saw her bright face.

"Hello, may I help you?" It was quiet in the Sanctuary otherwise. Akira could just make out something going on outside.

"Mister Fujimoto told me to come in here to color with Yukio. Do you know where he is? I want to draw the pretty red bird my mummy wouldn't let me play with." The man's face shifted into terror only to mask it quickly.

"Why, yes. He's through that open door, down the hall, and in the playroom on the right." He smiled at her and she bowed in thanks, knowing that's how her mother's home country showed respect. She turned quickly on her heel and ran down the hall giggling. In the playroom was a boy with glasses. His dark hair falling over his eyes slightly as he scribbled over a page. It had to be the boy she knew while living here.

"Yukio?" fell quietly from her lips, not as confident now that she recognized him. It had been three years. His head shot up to look at her. His eyes were the same behind those glasses; but just barely.

"Miss. Akira?" His head tilted to the side. "What are you doing here?"

"Your father sent me here to play with you. There was an angry red bird outside, but mummy wouldn't let me stay to watch it." His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Was it bigger than an eagle?" Akira nodded. "The color of a scab?" She went to nod, then stopped.

"Actually, it was lighter than that. It was more like blood when you cut yourself."

"When did you become so articulate?" he laughed and suddenly he was the Yukio she remembered.

"Kio!" she cried as she raced around the table to tackle him. "You haven't changed! Thank goodness!" He giggled.

"I see you haven't forgotten that name."

"Nevah! It's a name only I-" A shrill sound tore though the air. Akira sighed wistfully. "I think it's sad." She sat on her legs. "I'm going to go make it feel better!" she exclaimed just before the wall broke. The bird squawked and went to go to her.

"No! Leave her alone!" Yukio was suddenly standing in front of her. He was bigger than her now. They used to be the same size. She felt tiny, but didn't let that stop her from wanting to befriend the scarlet bird.

"Kio, it's just a bird. Even when they are aggressive, it can't do that much damage to us." Akira got off the floor to step in front of him. The bird calmed and sat still until Akira reached out to pet it. It's head touched her hand and it's feather's changed color to a deeper red. "Oh," she whispered. Yukio just stared at her.

"Akira, get away from that demon!" Her mother cried.

"Demon?" Akira asked. The bird started shrinking until it was small enough to perch on her head. As it grew smaller still, it moved to her shoulder where it tried to hide in her hair. This didn't work too well for it color wise since her hair was a pale shade of blue and pretty short, barely falling to her shoulders.

"Well, I'll be. It connected with your daughter." Shiro looked at the creature. It was much calmer now. "It's why it was able to break my spells. I imagine it will grow with her now." Mayu started muttering in Italian. "You've spent too much time at the vatican."

"Hush, Fujimoto. Now I have to teach her how to protect herself."

"Ah, so that's your problem." Shiro nodded and then looked at the hole in his wall. He sighed. "I guess it's a good thing that I've already started training Yukio. They can train together, though he'll be ahead of her by a year and a half."

"Good. She'll have someone to talk to about our world." She bent to pick up Akira. She locked eyes with Shiro and nodded once. "I need to get her home now. There's a lot I need to tell her before she starts training." She pulled her close, mindful of the bird on her shoulder. The girl protested.

"No! I want to stay and play with Yukio. We didn't get to play." Akira pouted. Her mother sighed.

"Fine. But when we get home, you will pay attention to what I have to say."

AH

Three hours later, Akira sat with her mother and her grandmother in their living room sipping tea. Yasu Yoshida was a small woman with great strength. Akira looked up to both her and her mother. At the age of nearly 9, she knew that she had to be more focused, especially while she was in this country.

"Now, Kira, why don't you introduce me to your new friend. He seems quite lovely."

"It's a girl, grandmama. She told me and Yukio-"

"Yukio and I," her mother automatically corrected her.

"Yukio and I," Akira continued as if her mother hadn't interrupted her. "That her parents and brother had died recently. She sensed that I was like them and wanted to be my friend. She's young, she tells me, for her species. She's only sixty years. Can you imagine being sixty and that being young!" Akira laughed and shook her head. "Anyways, she told me that her name is Yua. She's the kind of demon that binds to other forms to protect them. I'm still not sure about all this demon nonsense, but she's sweet. Can I keep her?" Her grandmother chuckled as she set down her tea.

"Of course, child. Would you like to know why Yua wishes to protect you?"

"Please!"

"Alright, but you must keep what I'm about to tell you just between the four of us until it's safe for you. Can you do that?"

"I can try. I'm only eight, grandmama." Mayu laughed at her daughter, who scowled. She was trying to be honest.

"When I was much younger, I met man: your grandfather," Yasu started. "It took quite some time for me to warm to him though. My gut told me to run from him, even though he was handsome and incredibly intelligent. Two years after I met him, we married and we eventually had your mother, and your uncle, Daiki.

It wasn't until your uncle was five that your grandfather told me his truth. He was a demon, but his downfall was loving humans. This is unusual for demons, bright one. He told me of his mother and father. His father was a human his mother had tricked. This is why we believe he was closer to being human. He wouldn't have told me any of this had Daiki stayed more human. He wasn't as sweet as your mother. He wasn't like the other little boys in his class. His eyes had started to shift from a brown to a dull red, which meant that he would always be a little devilish, so to speak. He wouldn't have any powers or anything, but your grandfather wanted me to know of these things just in case he was wrong."

"What does this have to do with Yua though?"

"She can tell that you are descendant from a demon, but the blood is weak. It's just strong enough for other demons to sense you, but not strong enough for you to protect yourself against them. It's the reason your mother became an exorcist." Her mother touched her grandmother's arm.

"Mom, let me take it from here."

"Very well. I shall make us fresh tea." Yasu left her kin to speak. She knew all of this anyways.

"Now," Mayu started as she picked up her daughter and put her on her lap. "An exorcist is someone who protects people from demons, and destroys them if need be. When I heard my father talking about the world he barely knew, I wanted to protect the human world. I was a little older than you at that time. I started researching and found out that I could learn how to protect the world.

As I was going into highschool, I was accepted into the cram school at True Cross Academy. I learned how to destroy demons that were hurting people and how to protect my loved ones. When I went to Italy to further my learning, I met your father. His father and mother were exorcists. He was visiting them when I started at the vatican. He is not an exorcist, but he respects that it's something I chose to do with my life. It's why we made the choice to only have you, bright one." Mayu kissed the top of Akira's head and they were silent even when Yasu came back into the room.

"I want to be an exorcist. I want to protect people and I want to protect myself if demons are going to come after me."

"I'm glad you want to do that, because I want the same for you, my child. You will start lessons with Yukio tomorrow after school. And Rin Okumura can not know that you are training with Yukio. Not until after you, too, are at True Cross Academy."

"Okay, mother." That was the moment they decided they were moving back to Japan.

 _===== About Six Years Later=====_

 _Chapter 1: Starting at True Cross Academy_

"Was that really Rin, Kio?" She had seen him in the courtyard with Shiro. Her heart fluttered lightly thinking about it. He had a few scrapes, which she knew Yukio had patched up, but his hair was falling over his eyes and he was wearing a suit. When had he changed so much? "What happened to the sweet boy I literally ran into a few years ago?" Akira Himura asked her best friend, Yukio Okumura. She was sitting on his striped down bed. She hadn't seen his brother in probably five years or so. Okay, so maybe it had been longer than a few years. The Rin she knew was obviously not this person. Even though he was violent when they were in preschool together, she never remembered him actually getting into fights with the kids. That didn't mean people didn't get hurt. He just never _purposefully_ injured people.

"Yeah, that was him. The past couple of years he's been...struggling." Yukio didn't seem to know what to tell her. He sat down next to her and flopped back onto his bed.

"Are you going to introduce me to him before we leave? We start school next week. He can know about our training now." She smiled down at him. He gave her a lopsided grin back.

"Maybe. I'm not sure he's ready to know though." Her face fell. "He doesn't see the demons and so he's just going to think that I'm following in dad's footsteps." She'd been best friends with Yukio for so long she thought he would be eager to introduce her to Rin. It kind of hurt.

"Alright, then we wait." Akira got up and stretched. "In the meantime, I need to go over to the shop to grab some things for school, then eat dinner with my family. I was hoping that tonight we would be celebrating together, but with your brother..." She shook her thoughts away. They would do her no good. "Anyways," Yukio sat up. "I'm staying with the family until Friday. I'll see you at school, Kio." She kissed the top of his head and then left. On her way out, she ran into Shiro Fujimoto. She bowed, per usual.

"Evening, Paladin Shiro." he chuckled, but bowed to her as well. She was the only one that called him that.

"Evening, Lady Himura." His own personal nickname for her. The corners of her mouth twitched slightly. "I thought you were going to stay for dinner tonight. Yukio had planned on telling Rin about all of this before you went off to academy. He seemed excited to do so." That wasn't the vibe she had gotten a few minutes ago, but she didn't feel like questioning it.

"I let it be Yukio's choice. Since Rin's been acting out, and doesn't believe in the demons, we're just going to wait."

"A wise decision." He nodded. "Let me walk you out."

"Of course, sir." This wasn't unusual when he wanted to speak with her, especially when it involved her best friend. When they got to the gate, Akira bowed and was about to walk off of the property when Shiro's hand held her in place.

"I need you to take care of Yukio while you are both at school. I know he's teaching, but I don't want him spreading himself thin. I worry about him. Even though he started training so he could protect Rin, sometimes, my youngest needs looking after as well."

"Of course I'll watch Yukio's back." Akira smiled as Shiro let go of her shoulder. "I'll stop by here before I leave on Friday to say goodbye to everyone."

"Of course. See you Friday, Akira." Shiro smiled and watched as she went down the block and turned out of sight. He always did.

===AH===

Akira was relaxing with her parents and grandmother before she was supposed to leave this weekend. Her grandmother was beating her father at chess for the third time. Her mother was trying to crochet a blanket, while they talked and her toes were drying. Key word about that blanket? Trying. She fought a laugh at the wad of yarn her mother was getting frustrated with. Her phone beeped twice. She flipped it open. ' _Maybe I shouldn't have taken on teaching this year on top of school.'_ It was Yukio.

' _You'll be fine. This isn't your first year teaching,'_ she replied. Just was she was closing the screen, her phone rang that special ring tone that meant terrible things were happening. The Paladin never called unless she was needed.

"Himura."

"Akira, I need you at the monastery. It's Rin." Her stomach dropped. Yukio had been at the school for a few hours. What could his brother possibly have gotten into in that time? "He was attacked by a demon. I'll explain more when you get here." The phone line died.

"So much for being home tonight. Sorry, mum." Mayu just shook her head and set her craft aside.

"I'm coming with you. Something big is happening. I can feel it. Yukio's at school, and there's no one to have your back." Akira was about to argue, but her mother beat her to it. "Just go get dressed. It sounded urgent." Akira sighed, but listened to her mother. She was ready in less than ten minutes, daggers on her thighs, weapons belt around her hips, hair in a tight bun on top of her head. She had a medical pack on her back.

By the time they got to the monastery, there was a fight waging. "Go cover Shiro, mum. I'm going to find Rin and help him." Akira took off before her mom could respond, chanting as she walked into the building. Yua was circling above. Akira called for her and as she flew down to protect her mistress, she grew bigger than she was years ago. "Yua, help fight off the other demons. Mum's going to fight. I'm going to try to take care of Rin."

' _Of course, miss.'_ Yua cawed before taking off into the smoke. By the time she reached Rin, he seemed fine. All the demons had just been destroyed. Just as she was about to call out to Rin and Shiro, she became witness to the beginning of the end. He was talking back to Shiro like Yukio often told her about. Rin started going on about how Shiro wasn't his dad, and she started running to stop him from saying something he would regret. A piece of building was falling and she missed what he said, but she saw Shiro smack Rin for the first time. She knew from Yukio that he never hit the boys, even when Rin was being the worst child ever. Shiro was a patient man. Both were in shock, but Rin was going to pack so they could get him to safety. Blue flames erupted and started taking over Shiro's body.

"No!" she screamed. Her knees gave out, but she was determined to get to Rin to help him. He would be no match for Satan, especially with the Gehenna Gate open. But Shiro pushed through and saved Rin. When he drew the sword Shiro had shown her and Yukio last year, he was engulfed in blue flames. All she could think before she passed out was that Yukio would be devastated.

===AH===

The funeral was held three days later. The rain was fitting. Her two-toned hair was hidden by her large brimmed hat. She was by Yukio's side. Rin had barely spoken. She felt like screaming, but the request of Shiro rang through her head. _'My youngest needs looking after as well.'_ She had to be strong. When Yukio went to walk away from the headstone, she followed, but they both stopped and looked back at Rin at the same time. She ached all over, but her heart ached the most for her best friend's twin. To watch the only father you ever knew be killed by Satan so you could survive had to be the hardest thing he'd ever experienced. She knew his acting out would only get worse.

"Kio, will he be alright?" Yukio pulled her along, but said nothing. She knew he was mourning, so she left it alone for now. She was going to True Cross Academy today. She was leaving him behind so he could look after Rin tonight. She would have stayed, but she needed to get her bearings before the start of school on Monday. ' _That's the day after tomorrow. Where did the days go?'_ she wondered

The last text she got before going to bed several hours later was from Yukio _. 'Rin's coming to True Cross. Just found out.'_ She smiled. Things might just work out.

===AH===

At the freshman class ceremony the next morning, she sat next to Yukio. They were in the front row. Her stocking clad legs were crossed at the ankles kicked up on the railing in front of her. When they called his name, she bent her head to hide her smile. He beat her by one point, the bastard. But she hated speaking in public and he looked so at home in front of the crowd. She overheard some of the girls talking about her best friend and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She let him be surrounded after Mephisto had ended the assembly, chuckling to herself as Yukio looked so uncomfortable with the attention.

"Why, hello," a pink haired boy greeted as he came to stand next to her. She could just see the color passed her the edge of her headpiece. "I really dig that hat. It adds an air of mystery to you." Two other boys were not far behind him, obviously friends.

"Thank you." She tilted her head just enough to look at him properly.

"Renzo Shima." He stuck out a hand. She shook it firmly. He waved his friends over. One came forward quickly. "This is Konekomaru Miwa." The boy in question was so small compared to his friends, she stood at the same height as him. She blinked, surprised a boy so small was her age. Shima pointed at the other boy. "That's Ryuji Suguro. Sorry he's all broady. He had a stick lodged up his ass a few years ago that got stuck." Akira tried, and failed, to hold back laughter. Then she processed his last name.

"Oh! You're going to cram school, right? I'm so glad I get to meet someone before I go classes later. I'm Akira Himura." Shima sputtered. Konekomaru stared. Ryuji came closer.

" _The_ Akira Himura? Daughter of Mayu Himura? Granddaughter of the best exorcist team the vatican has seen? _That_ Akira Himura?" She bit her lip nervously. Ryuji was kind of scary for a human.

"Ki!" Yukio called to her. She waved him off for a moment.

"The one and only." She curtsied. " Gotta go. Later, boys!" She offered them a smile before she skipped over to Yukio. "Where's Rin?"

"He's freaking out about the size of the school." Akira chuckled. They started walking to find a door to use to get to cram school. "Apparently he never paid attention when I talked about it."

"Rin doesn't pay attention to anything, according to you." Yukio shrugged one shoulder. She couldn't hold her excitement anymore. "I can't believe we're really here, Kio. And you're going to be teaching again this year! Isn't that exciting? Though, maybe I'll actually stay ahead of you in classes this year."

"Doubtful, though I was hoping to go over our time table and my teaching schedule to set up study blocks with you."

"And combat training. Don't forget about that, Mr. Athlete." She pushed his shoulder. He chuckled at her playfulness. She was only like this when she was hyper. It didn't happen as often as they got older. She attributed it to long exposure to her home country.

"You can't keep up with me for any of that," he scoffed. Her smile disappeared. Determination set on her face.

"Oh, yeah?" He nodded as he unlocked the door to the cram school. "Well, do you think you'd be willing to get up nearly an hour earlier so we can go running? Because that's how I'm going to work up my physical abilities this year." She was well ahead of people their age when it came to being in shape, but she could never beat Yukio in a race, or anything like that.

"I can commit to twice a week for morning runs. Though, if I remember correctly, you are a terrible morning person."

"Thought I'd try something new to give me an edge." He chuckled again. "Speaking of which, did you tell your brother your side of things yet?"

"He's going to find out about my training in class today. As for the rest, I'll leave that to you." Akira sighed.

"Fair enough." They walked in silence until they were at the entrance of the cram school's library. The room was so large she couldn't see to the end or sides well. She could just barely make out windows, which filled the room with multicolored light. There was apparently some intricate stained class. Akira started spazzing out. "Oh, Kio, look at how many shelves there are! Imagine all the things we could learn!" She took off down an aisle, her hat flying off of her head. Yukio picked it up and followed her. "They have the ENTIRE collection for all the countries' research on demons. No wonder there are so many shelves! And the atlas of demon populations! There's multiple copies. It's only two volumes." And then she took off down another aisle. Yukio followed until she stopped again. "Oh, look! A perfect reading and studying area! Two tables with chairs, and-" she sat in an oversized armchair, the bag she was carrying fell to the floor "why couldn't we have these at the public library? It would have made things way comfier!"

"Ki, stop spazzing out." Yukio put her hat on one of the tables. She checked her watch.

"I have Beyond Basic Shooting after lunch. Want to meet up?" Yukio fell into a chair matching hers. "Are you busy this afternoon?"

"You're right about the chairs." She raised an eyebrow at him. Why was he being stubborn about things? He was never this evasive. "I have the freshman class before lunch, so depending on how much of a disaster that it, yes." She rested her head back and relaxed for a few moments before she set out to find something to read until class. Yukio left before she came back to the space. Only when she heard a commotion outside of the library did she venture out. And she had been reading the most fascinating journey of the first known exorcist! She groaned, put the book in her pack, grabbed her hat, and then followed the noise. Shima and his friends were standing outside a classroom. She didn't wait. She opened the door, closing it quickly to protect the other kids should something dangerous be inside. She was not expecting to see her best friend with a gun trained on his twin. She didn't understand what would make him act that way toward Rin.

"Yukio!"

"Ki, I have this under control." Yukio lowered his gun, but did not put it away. She stormed away before they could get any further. Her best friend was turning into a monster. What was she to do? This was not the start of school she had expected.

===AH===

 _I had this idea for a girl that trained with Yukio and it wouldn't go away. ~Tori_


	2. Ch 2: Rin Meets Akira

Disclaimer.

===AH===

 _Chapter 2: Rin Meets Akira_

It was a few days before Akira spoke to Yukio. She'd been ignoring him all week. She'd even sat next to Ryuji in her advanced classes, who'd told her she could call him 'Bon' after sitting next to him in all their classes for three days.

That was the afternoon Yukio texted her about her order with the exorcist specialty shop. She asked if he could pick it up for her. They agreed to meet up next day. They avoided the topic of Rin when they met up in front of his dorm. The other freshman cram school kids were doing drills with the Horndog, as Akira had labeled him. Yukio was called away by Faust when there was only fifteen minutes left to that class. She didn't ask what it was about. She just told him that she'd see him in advanced Literature.

After Literature, they had an introduction to art course they shared with Rin. Akira thought that art was one of the best brain cleansers. Yukio wasn't very good, but he wanted to keep an eye on his twin. Akira didn't know they were all going to share a class until the first day. After, she invited Yukio to the cram school library for lunch. They studied while they ate, idle chat going between them as well as some questions posed from classes. There was very little time left in the lunch hour when Akira finally worked up the nerve to bring up their fight.

"The last day I was at your house, Shiro asked me to take care of you, ya know," she started. Yukio stopped what he was working on, but did not look at her. "He told me that you wanted to protect Rin, but that you needed someone to do the same for you. I told him that I would always have your back." He looked up at her. Akira smiled when he did, but it didn't last as she continued. "But I can't support the notion that you would _kill_ your own brother. Rin was so important that you started to studying exorcism at the age of seven. You wanted to protect him." She hoped that he read between the lines. He usually could with her.

"I still do want to protect Rin, but I have to protect the world from demons and dark creatures too. It's part of my oath." ' _Have I been so busy with my own ability to become an exorcist that I missed a change in him? There's no way. There has to be more to this. I've known him for too long for him to be this far gone without me realizing it.'_ The anger she had been trying to keep in check caused her to slam her hands onto the desk in front of them.

"Screw the oath! Rin is your twin! He comes before that other crap."

"It's complicated, Ki." Their gazes locked. Hers was burning; his calm. Her right eye twitched in irritation.

"Then explain it! It can't be that complicated; he's your brother," she stressed. He remained silent. "Whatever. I'll drop the subject." She broke eye contact and gathered her things. "Know this:" she started before she left, "there's always a better way to handle difficult situations, especially when Rin's involved." She went to her first advanced pharmacology III class for the year, which she was dreading. It was the last year she had to formally study plants and their healing properties, but it was a four hour block once a week. There was going to be a lot of independent work, she was sure. That did not make up for the fact that she was going to die of boredom in class. Why couldn't it have just been a two hour block twice a week?

"You're just in time, deary," her teacher said from his space right outside the classroom door. "The last one too." He made a sound that sounded like a laugh, but it could have been a 'hmm.' He closed the door behind her and walked to the front of the small classroom. When he faced the class, which was her and two other students, she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from gasping. His skin was reptilian; scaly, a little shiny, and peeling in some places. His glasses, which she had assumed were normal day to day wear, were not quite clear, but they weren't sunglasses either. She raised her hand.

"Why is this class so small?" She figured there would be a few more students in her class, even though it _was_ advanced.

"Ah, excellent question! Hm." He tapped his chin as he pondered how to answer, though Akira thought it was just for show. "You, Miss. Akira Himura," he pointed to her, "are only taking this and your two other cram school classes because you like the busy work. You are a Doctor and a Knight, Middle Second Class." She shrunk in her seat, which was difficult given that she was already petite. He looked at the other girl in the class. "You, Miss. Cho Watanabe, wish to only work helping repair the damage demons cause. You are a Doctor and Aria, currently Lower Second Class, for this purpose. You don't want to be on the front lines." Cho neither agreed nor denied what he was saying, but she had a fierce glare. "And Mister Sora Ueno is a Dragoon, Lower First Class. This is his last class before being able to go into the field fully." Sora's eye twitched. Akira wasn't sure how she felt about this teacher, but at least he was direct as well as thorough. "You can all call me Nobu." He picked up a huge stack of papers and set a copy in front of each of them. "This is what other teachers call a syllabus. I, however, call it a lifeline." Akira picked up her stack. It was the size of a small book. It was even bound. She groaned internally. She may love to learn, but this was pushing her limit. Cho raised her hand and Nobu acknowledged the girl.

"This is for the whole course then?" Akira wasn't expecting the strong voice that came out of the other girl. She had glared at Nobu, but she still had seemed somewhat timid.

"Yes." The three students let out breaths of relief. "But this class is only four months," he continued. "I only lecture for one hour each week. Your research papers and the field work you'll be doing _together_ are the only components of your grade. There is a paper due every other week. The outlines for each are in your packet. There is no final. I will either pass you or fail you based on your performance." Nobu turned toward the board to write the current time. "I'm going to let you read it now. I'll answer any and all questions in about an hour or so. From there we'll go to the school's provided library. I'll point out the most useful sections for projects as it is a huge library and easy to get lost in, even when following the catalogue. The rest of class will then be yours to start paper one." He disappeared with a snap of his fingers. ' _Fuck,'_ Akira thought. _'He's some kind of demon. What is this place?'_ She was going to hate this class. She could just feel it.

===AH===

Akira had fallen into a pretty regular routine with Yukio over the next couple weeks. She kept mostly to herself in an effort to not have attention drawn to her. She didn't raise her hand in class, but had top marks, much to her best friend's annoyance. They trained together when they could. It was comfortable. Then she noticed it. She had looked up to copy some notes from the board, but something caught her attention. Yukio was on a mission, but Rin was in art class. And he had a damned tail! When had that happened?

This was why Yukio had trained so hard; always pushing himself further than he should have. She kept up with him pretty well, knowing that this was important. They had even gotten their Doctor Meister at the same time, a second to follow for each less than six months later, but she wanted to at least _pretend_ she was normal sometimes.

She couldn't ignore the fact that Rin had a tail though. After classes today, her usual study time Yukio might just be pushed off. She was going to suggest combat then proceed trying to strangle him.

AH

She was studying in their spot when she heard the pattern of his footfalls. She tossed a book behind her as he entered the space, standing to turn and look at him as he caught it. _Barely_. She glared at him.

"Yukio Okumura, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with _you_? Why did you just throw your copy of _Great Expectations_ at me?" He flipped through it. "Sorry, my copy."

"Because you are a great, big jerk. That's why." Her eyes narrowed further. He sighed. This wasn't an unusual occurrence when she felt slighted.

"Why am I a great, big jerk this time?" He sighed again.

"Because you didn't bother to tell me that the reason you were training so hard to protect Rin was from himself." Yukio stared at her. "Why didn't you just tell me he was a demon?" she hissed at him. He went toward her. She backed up slightly. There was still a few feet between them. "Are you a demon, too? Is that why you didn't tell me?"

"No, Ki, I am not a demon," he said softly as he walked around the furniture to stand directly in front of her. She stepped forward and fell into him. "But he and I do share a father." He wrapped his arms around her. "It's Satan, Ki, and Rin has vowed to kill him for murdering Shiro." Akira tried to push away from Yukio, but he held fast knowing she would start freaking out otherwise. She took several deep breaths, saying nothing as the night Shiro died was playing in her head now.

"I'm going to help him." Yukio tensed. "I'm going to help you, too. You aren't alone, Kio." He relaxed and pulled her closer.

"I know." He was skipping over the hard emotions. She let him, for now, as her arms tightened around him.

"My grandfather was a half demon," she mumbled into his chest. He almost didn't understand her, but he was used to her doing this when she didn't want to tell him something. He dropped his arms, stepping back from her.

"Why am I just finding out about this?" He crossed his arms.

"Because I couldn't. Not until it was safe to tell you." Yukio sighed and they were silent for a few moments before either spoke again.

"Six years? You had to wait that long to tell me?" Akira giggled, pushed him away, and hopped up on a desk.

"I did, but you didn't give me any indication that you were hiding the son of Satan. Even?"

"I guess." Yukio sighed again. "Are you coming to my class tonight?"

"Dunno yet. What I do know is we only have," she looked at her watch, "Two hours before then, I'm all caught up with my work for the day, and I'm going to practice keeping form while hitting targets." She shouldered her bag and walked out of the cram school's library. Yukio didn't follow.

==AH==

One hour, fifty-six minutes later, Akira was slipping into the back of Yukio's class, hair still wet from her shower. Yua was hiding in the dark red, messy bun on top of her head. She was simply there to observe. It was something she had to do as a freshman taking such advanced cram classes. This class was small, but bigger than all of hers. Only nine students were here, spread out in small groups. Shiemi was sitting at Rin's table. She locked eyes with Yukio and smiled. He nodded to acknowledge her without bringing her presence to the attention of the students. She was to take notes and present improvement. She would have to remember where she was years ago compared to now and go from there.

"I hope you all..." she tuned out Yukio as her eyes caught Rin's tail move. _'How has no one noticed this yet? Though, to be fair, it took me awhile to notice. But I see him in class, where he sits behind me normally, and...Nope. That's it. This is a sorry group of exorcists in training if they can't spot a demon among them.'_ The main reason she wanted to watch the class today was because she had finally noticed Rin's tail. Sure, her training required her observation, but she'd been putting it off until now. She wanted to see how the other kids acted around him. She shifted around the room to get a better look at Rin, who she'd been pretty much ignoring until recently, careful to make sure the other kids didn't see her. Yukio stopped talking and a few students got up to pair off with other members of their class. Rin clipped his hair back from his face, oblivious to the fact that he was working on his own. He was also the only one that hadn't noticed she was in the room. When Shima tried to come over to say hi, she shook her head, mouthing _'Later.'_ He shrugged and went back to work with Bon.

' _Rin's changed so little since we were kids_.' As she watched him take notes, she realized that even though he had been struggling the past few years, fighting, and getting into trouble, he was still boyish. His tail swished once. He stopped writing in order to tuck it up his shirt. ' _That's why I didn't notice before.'_ She felt something stir in her she hadn't felt in quite some time. She hadn't had this chest clenching, stomach fluttering feeling in at least a year. The first time she'd experienced this was a few years ago when she realized that Yukio was a _boy_ and she was a _girl_. She had told him as much, but he had rejected her. She had pushed those feelings away. He was her best friend. She didn't want to lose him. When she looked away from Rin, Yukio was staring at her. She blushed, which hadn't happened around him in quite some time, and bit her lip. He raised an eyebrow at her. Of course he was curious. She moved through the rest of the room without a care and sat on the edge of his desk. She neither faced the students, nor Yukio.

"You never blush. At least, not since we were kids," he murmured. She knew he was really asking a question. He had a bad habit of doing that with her. And even though his voice was low, it was quiet enough in the room that she was pretty sure they all heard him. She shrugged and then shook her head.

"I'll tell you later, Kio. It's nothing, really." Yukio chuckled and leaned into her.

"Pretty sure that's a lie," he whispered. She met his gaze. He was closer than she thought. She gulped to try to swallow her heart back into place. "Also we seem to have an audience." Her head whipped around, hair flying into Yukio's face, causing him to sputter as he straightened. "Class, this is Miss. Himura. You will show her the same respect you show me." Akira tried to blindly punch his shoulder, but hit mid-chest instead. He didn't flinch, but his eyes narrowed at her. Izumo raised her hand. ' _She would be the one to speak up."_ "Yes, Miss. Kamiki?"

"Are you two dating, or something?" Akira nearly fell off the desk, but hopped up instead. The nerve of her roommate.

"Absolutely not!" she shouted at the same time as Yukio said, "Or something?" She spun onto Yukio. "Or something? Really? That's what you got out of this? You are a stupid boy, Yukio, considering."

"What does 'or something' mean? She's usually more precise than that!" Akira huffed.

"She was trying to be nice and vague. She was asking if we were a.) dating, or b.) not dating but messing around with each other." Yukio's face scrunched up. "See! That's why she was being vague!"

"How could she think that?" Yukio was having trouble wrapping his head around this.

"Because she's a hottie, and you're a good looking guy," Shima piped up. "Plus, you're a high ranking exorcist. Ladies love stuff like that." Akira spun to face Shima.

"I am not a 'hottie,'" was said at the same time as Yukio exclaimed, "Akira's not like that!" She rounded back on him so quickly she had to catch herself on his desk.

"So you don't think I'm hot." Yukio looked stricken. What was going on with her? She knew that he wasn't trying to hurt her, but the stabbing pain in her chest cavity told a different story. She started backing away while keeping her face neutral.

"That's not what I meant! I meant that you don't go after people in power!" The class was snickering. Yukio blinked and realized that this was not something he wanted to talk about in front of them. "Class dismissed." Every student rushed to get out of the room. "I want those plants known by next class!" Akira was half way across the room. He could hear the clock ticking, but couldn't bring himself to say anything. She couldn't either. Yua was now sitting on a desk, too big to hide in her hair. "Ki, please calm down. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I need to figure out what's going on with us." She crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't look at him.

"What do you mean? Nothing is wrong with us! You're my best friend." She wiped tears off her face.

"I need some space. Bye, Yukio." She ran from the room. Just hearing him say those words, even though they were true and she'd thought them a million times, hurt. Yukio went to go after her, but Yua flapped her wings at him in warning before she flew after her mistress, shrinking as the threat fell behind them.

AH

It was several more days before Akira talked to anyone that knew about the demon world. At least at first. She had called her mother, but couldn't seem to put into words what she was feeling. She avoided Yukio, again, as much as she could considering they shared nearly every class. She tried not paying Rin any mind, but she would notice his tail and her insides would flip. She didn't know what was going on with her, so she turned to books like she normally did when she needed answers. She started in the cram school library knowing that this wasn't something humans would have any knowledge of.

In the meantime, she had re-dyed her hair to match Yua's dark red feathers so none of the pale blue was showing. Kamiki tried to get to know her more since they were roommates, but she couldn't deal with that. She didn't have the spare minutes to hang out with Kamiki and Paku; not right now. And when Shima had tried to hit on her, she had just rolled her eyes. Since they had hung out a bit over the last few weeks, she smiled at him because he was trying to cheer her up. It only lasted a short while, but she appreciated it.

On her way to lunch on day five of avoiding Yukio, she saw them. Three girls were surrounding him. Then she heard what the girls were saying about Rin and felt her anger flare. She needed to prove them wrong. The half-demon was standing by a tree not far from his brother and the girls. She walked over to him unnoticed until she lightly touched his tail. He jumped.

"What do you think you are doing?" he all but shouted at her. _'Perfect,'_ she thought. ' _We'll have those girls' attention.'_ She giggled and flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking back at her best friend at the same time. She caught Yukio's eye, but didn't hold it. He looked almost angry, though she couldn't figure out why. Her focus, for once, was Rin.

"I wanted to see if it was real is all," she said quietly, shrugging, as she looked up at his face knowing she wouldn't be heard by anyone but him. Rin blinked at her. This was like...flirting. Was that why Yukio was mad?

"Of course it's real. Why wouldn't it be?" Her hand ran over his tail softly. He let out a low groan. Her stomach tightened. She was suddenly glad she'd found him under a tree. The shade helped hide the heat in her cheeks from him.

"Well, none of the kids at the cram school have noticed it yet. Or they just think it's normal for a ward of Johann Faust V to have a demon's tail." Rin gulped. His hands were at his sides and she felt desperate for them to be on her. However, she was being forward enough as it was. Maybe she'd spent too much time in England with her cousins on holidays.

"What are you talking about?" he asked nervously. His back was nearly against the tree. She ran her hand over his tail again. His eyes darkened when a short nail caught slightly. They weren't as bright a blue and she wanted to push him further against the tree because of it.

"I find it adds to your overall appeal." She leaned toward him. "But I'm jumping the gun. I want to get to know you again, Rin Okumura," she breathed into his ear.

"Wh-" he gulped again as her hand shifted to the top of his tail without touching his butt and she pushed herself against him a little more. "What do you mean 'again'?" She stepped back from him slightly.

"My name is Akira Himura. We met when we were in preschool together, but I moved before I turned five. " She looked up at his face, which she could just tell was not _quite_ red. "I moved back a few years ago. Didn't Yukio ever mention me?" She knew her best friend had done no such thing. It was part of the rules. "We've been training together for over six years now."

"No. He didn't." Rin was looking at something over his shoulder. Akira felt another presence before he even spoke.

"I had a good reason for that." She jumped and turned keeping up their charade. Yukio was smiling, or at least that's what it looked like he was trying to do. She stepped away from Rin.

"Yeah, I know. But you could have been preparing him." Yukio raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed. "You have been. Of course." She smacked his arm. It was like nothing had changed the past few days. Was this how her high school years were going to be: fight with Yukio and then avoid it? "And for not telling me, you've got to walk me to class. Come on, Four Eyes." She grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Rin, who was laughing at his brother's misfortune, and his fan club, who she just realized were standing a lot closer than she would have liked.

"Yeah, okay. I've got some things I need to ask you anyways." Akira stopped them, causing Yukio to stumble.

"See you later, Rin!" she called, waving, before she continued to drag Yukio along. He pulled her into an alcove before they could get to advanced biology. "What are you doing? The freshman bio classes are all working together today. We can't skip. Rin's in this hour with us." She dropped her hand from the crook of his arm.

"How do you know that?" He squinted at her, suspicious. She didn't change her stance.

"That doesn't matter. What's going on? We can't skip class," she repeated. He sighed. He'd been doing this around her a lot lately.

"I know we can't miss class. I just didn't want to wait to talk to you. I can't let you run away again." Yukio opened his arms and she stepped into them. She felt warm and safe. It was like coming home. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she was sure it had something to do with her feelings a few days ago. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Hush."

"But-"

"Shut up, Kio." He did as told and pulled her closer.

"I missed you." She nodded. She didn't quite trust her voice; tears were threatening to fall as it was. She squeezed her eyes tight to hold them back. "I didn't realize just how much until you were..." he trailed off. She waited until he was ready to tell her what was going through his mind. It gave her time to compose herself. "Until I saw you with Rin," he said finally. She couldn't help laughing. That was his problem?

"Why did it bother you?" His grip loosened. She looked up at him.

"I didn't like it." He looked away from her. She studied him for a moment. They were just close enough that she caught the increased heart rate. His face a mask of stone, but his cheeks were slightly red.

"You're jealous." She was surprised. His eyes flicked to look at her before he focused on the wall again. "You are! Why? You rejected me years ago, Yukio." Her eyes narrowed at him. What was going on? They were just friends; best friends. That's what they'd been telling each other for quite some time.

"Honestly?" She folded her arms across her chest, which was hard to do since they were standing pretty close. " I'm not really sure, but I'm happy every time you turn Shima down; I'm not when you flirt with guys, especially when you don't realize you're doing it. I love being around you; how animated you are when you talk; how kind you are. I missed you."

"You said as much," she whispered.

"Yes, but this week was torture. It was like I couldn't keep my eyes off you." He looked back at her and straightened slightly. "But you needed space, so I left you alone. Not being able to talk to you was the worst." His cheeks were darker, but he seemed to have gained a confidence. One of his hands came up to cup her face gently. She could tell he was about to kiss her and pulled away before his lips could make even the barest of contact.

"You can't do this to me, Yukio. _You_ turned _me_ down before. You can't mess with me like this." Yukio growled.

"I'm not trying to mess with you. I just can't stand to see you with him!" Akira pushed him away from her as hard as she could.

"So because you feel like Rin gets everything, you want me now? That's not how this works! I'm a person!" How dare he act like this! "I haven't seen Rin, really seen him, in years. He'd always been at a distance, even in class. The other day in your class, I can't even begin to tell you what I was feeling. It was the first time I'd really looked at him. But now I don't really know what to do." She backed up against the opposite wall. This was extremely exhausting. "It was similar to the feeling I started to have for you a few years ago, but different as well. I can't tell him though. History will just repeat itself," she finished sadly. Leaning close, Yukio hit the space next the her head.

"I made a mistake! I was thirteen, Ki! I didn't know how to react to you then. But just the thought of you with any guy makes me go crazy. I've seen some of the other guys you talk to in class try to get you to go out with them and I hate it. In art class, I sat next to you because it made sense. But I've never felt like hurting any of the guys that you talk to. Not until you were _flirting_ with my brother. You haven't shown interest in anyone, to my knowledge, since we got our _Meisters_." He pulled away from her. "But him? It had to be him! I think I could handle anyone but him, Ki." He whispered the last part.

"So instead of telling me any of this, you wait until I start crushing on your brother? I didn't choose this! It's just something that happened."

"I know you can't help feelings, but maybe you liking Rin is because you still like me." He was hopeful that that was the real reason.

"No! How dare you! You are my best friend, Yukio. Act like it. Stop being a jealous arsehole." She was being a little harsh, but they hadn't really talked about what was going on with them and she was just so frustrated.

"How can I support you flirting with my brother? How can you ask me to watch you touch him?" Her whole body hummed at the idea. She _really_ needed to figure out what was going on. Were both brothers actually involved? As his words really sank in though, her anger spiked. It was as if a rubber band snapped within her, but she was calm.

"The same way I watch girls flirt with you all the time," she said frostily as she pushed passed him.

"But I don't return the affections!" Yukio followed her as she sped toward their class. "We need to finish talking, Ki."

"Later, Yukio." He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair before he followed her into class. Akira raised an eyebrow as he took his normal seat while she sat next to Bon. When they met up with the other freshman biology classes, she caught him glaring to his brother, who remained oblivious the whole hour. She could barely focus on her task, but she made it through class in one piece.

AH

It was hours later while she was working on her cram school work that a chair across from her was pulled out. She assumed it was Yukio so she ignored him. After a few translations though, the person spoke.

"So. What exactly is going on with you and my brother, Miss. Himura?" Her heart clenched. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and willed her body to relax.

"There's nothing going on with Yukio and I, Rin." She continued with her translation as if she hadn't been interrupted. It didn't cross her mind to be proper with him as he had been with her. She was so used to being around Yukio and Shiro that being proper around a member of their family was a foreign concept.

"That's bull shit and you know it. One, you call him Kio. Even I know that. Two, he wasn't angry at me until after lunch. I'm pretty sure he was trying to kill me with his eyes in class today."

"Your brother was not trying to kill you with his eyes." ' _He noticed that?'_ She pushed her work away, knowing that trying to do anything was futile at this point. "He's just working through some things." She shrugged before looking up at Rin.

"Well, most of those things seem to involve you. So, I will repeat: what is going on with you and my brother? Because you can't..." he cleared his throat. "You can't touch me if Yukio is who you want to be with." Akira's heart fell to her feet. She looked back down at the table.

"It's not like that." Her voice was soft. She blinked tears away, picking at a spot on the table for something else to focus on.

"You're obviously close with him. Hell, he's kept you from me until after we were here." Rin was definitely annoyed at being left out of the loop. She didn't blame him.

"He didn't have a choice. Part of my training was that you weren't allowed to know until we were here at True Cross. That was my family's one condition for me learning to become an exorcist at such a young age. I was eight, nearly nine, at the time."

"What made you want to be an exorcist so young?" Akira chirped. Yua hopped out from behind her hair, landing on the table and looking at her mistress questioningly. She stroked her feathers.

"The day I made the choice, Yua was chasing me. She was about ten times her current size, and my mother knew she was a demon. I ended up at your monastery where I was reintroduced to Yukio, Yua shattered through the wards, and I learned my mom was an exorcist. Once I got home, I learned about the truth of my heritage, but I'm not getting into that right now. Not here." She paused; Rin was patient while she gathered her thoughts. This was unusual from the stories Yukio had told her about his brother. "Anyways, I made the decision that I wanted to learn how to protect my family and other people."

"That's basically why I want to be an exorcist. I learned about where I came from and I want to protect my brother and the other priests at the monastery. I'm-"

"I know, Rin. It's okay." Rin blinked at her. "You don't have to explain things to me." She was smiling, though she still wasn't looking at him.

"Really? I don't scare you?"

"Nope. I was there the night Shiro died," she whispered. Akira glanced at her watch. "Let's get out of here. There's still over an hour before you have to be in class with Yukio." She started gathering her things, standing to put away some reference books.

"I think you need to talk to him before I go to class. I don't want him to make me burst into flames because he thinks I'm stealing his girl." She dropped the books back on the table.

"I am NOT his girl. He rejected me. He doesn't get to be all jealous and-" Rin jumped up excitedly. His grin made her stomach flip, but she ignored it.

"Ha! I knew something happened with you guys!" Akira groaned.

"Nothing actually happened. I told him I liked him. He told me he wanted to focus on training. I pushed aside the feelings I thought I had. End of story." She picked up her bag instead. She'd be coming back later anyways.

"Not end of story. Miss. Himura, my brother was a moron." Akira stepped closer to Rin. Rin backed up. They did this until his back hit the library shelves. There was still about a foot between them. "And I don't think you're over him like you want to believe," he whispered before he gulped. That seemed to be all he could do when she was this close to him.

"Then why does my stomach clench when I think about you, which has been a lot recently?" She closed the space between them, bag falling to the floor. They were just barely touching. "Why do I want to touch you and never stop?" She reached out with one hand to trace from his forehead to his chin. He didn't stop her as his breathing picked up. She ran that hand down his neck and torso until it rested on his hip, her other hand already on the other side. "I don't remember feeling like this with Yukio." Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Don't say that," he basically growled. She wouldn't have heard his words had she not been so close. She stepped back from him slightly, hands dropping from his hips. She wasn't going to be rejected by an Okumura brother. Not again.

"Don't say what?" She was terrified. Why was Rin different? Was this that different from with her best friend? She really couldn't remember. ' _But then I've never been in situations with him until...well, we've always hugged, and been close that way. Maybe...'_ Rin's words broke her thoughts.

"Don't say his name when you're touching me." He pulled her back to him, their bodies fitting together in a way Akira was sure only happened in her mother's romance novels. She gasped, her hands going to his shoulders.

"But I-"

"Shh, Miss. Himura." His breath was near her ear. She shivered.

"If you're going to hold me like this, then you need to at least call me Kira. 'Miss' is far too formal for what I'm feeling." His lips lightly touched her neck. He gripped her hips tighter when she sighed at the contact. "Or for you doing that."

"I've never touched a girl before you...Kira." She chuckled. "Why do I feel what you feel?" She shrugged, which made him move his head. "We barely know each other. Is there something wrong with us?" Their faces were so close, but their lips weren't touching. They were just staring at each other.

"I hope not." Her fingers started playing with the hair at the base of his neck, and he hummed, pulling her body closer still to him. "I've never done anything with anyone either, Rin." She wet her lips, and without knowing how it really happened, his lips were on hers. She felt so warm in his embrace. This was definitely not what she felt when Yukio held her earlier. That felt normal and perfectly fine for close friends. And she didn't think this was how it would feel to kiss him, but she couldn't fully think straight as Rin's hands had moved to the hem of her skirt, fingers ghosting over the thin fabric of her tights. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. When she bit his bottom lip lightly, he groaned and lifted her, pushing away from the bookshelves. She wrapped her legs around him, his sword getting in the way slightly. His hands were gripping the backs of her thighs. After a few seconds she felt the wood of the work desk under her bottom. It startled her away from his lips and she opened her eyes to look into his large blue ones. Only the two of them were surrounded by blue. It took her a moment to realize what had happened.

"I-" She couldn't find words. Instead, she pushed him away, picked up her bag, and fled the library.

"Kira!" Yukio called after her just as she was making her way up the hall. She stopped and looked at her watch.

"You have class soon. What do you want?" He suddenly looked nervous. "Well?"

"I saw you with Rin," he said quietly.

"Don't worry. It's not going to happen again, I'm sure. He's not going to want to touch me again if he can't keep control of his powers."

"I think you're wrong about that, but that's not really want I want to talk about." He glanced around before grabbing her hand and pulling her along until they were in his classroom, which she didn't bother protesting. He closed the door. "I couldn't look away from you and Rin, Ki." She glared at him, but said nothing. "I know that's not something I should be asking you, but please, Akira, just give us a try. Seeing you with him was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." The use of her first name threw her off, but she shook her head nonetheless.

"Why did it take me liking Rin for you to realize you liked me?" To be fair, she'd been crushing on Rin a little bit before school started, but 1.) Yukio didn't need to know that, and 2.) she'd been trying to push said crush away. _'That worked out oh so wonderfully,'_ she thought bitterly.

"Would you stop that? I never told you I didn't like you!" She threw her hands up.

"You told me you would rather focus on your training! What do you call that? Because I call that rejection!"

"You told me right before we were about to take our _Meister_ exam! That was terrible timing!"

"I was a nervous wreck, and I knew if I didn't tell you then, I would never tell you!" Yukio sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I didn't get to see you before you left to celebrate with your family. You didn't mention it after getting back, so I thought you had just gotten over me or something. I _never_ rejected you, Ki." He whispered the last part. "Please believe me." She studied him for a few moments before she went to sit at one of the desks. She put her bag on the table and then indicated for him to take the seat she had moved to face her.

"I believe you, but I can't just jump into your arms, Kio. I need to figure out what's going on with Rin and I, first and foremost." Yukio reluctantly agreed as he sat next to her and they spent the rest of time their time chatting, filling one another in on what had been going on in their worlds. Rin was the first person into the classroom, which was odd. "Hey, Rin." She smiled broadly at the boy in question. He just looked away from her. She bit her lip. She looked at Yukio, who was glaring at Rin. She looked back at Rin. She sighed. "We'll be right back, Kio." She stood, grabbed Rin's arm, and pulled him from the classroom.

"What are you doing, Miss. Himura?" Rin took his arm back from her. The other kids had started filing in. She moved across the hall and rounded on Rin.

"I wouldn't have been able to sit there the whole time without you at least saying hi. And why are we back to 'miss'? What did I tell you?" She put her hands on her hips.

"You ran away from me and straight into Yukio's arms." He was oddly calm, not even looking at her. It was as if he'd been expecting something like this.

"I did not!"

"Yes you did! His glare is worse! He knows something happened." Rin turned away from her and closed the classroom door. At least they seemed to be on the same page about keeping this conversation between them.

"Okay, fine. I didn't go running into his arms though. He saw us in the library." She made sure to lower her voice, not trusting the door fully. He rounded on her this time.

"So to make him feel better, you what? Let him kiss you? Touch you?" Rin didn't have time to react before her hand connected with his face.

"I've only ever kissed one person and you're it." She looked down at her feet. Rin glared at her, not quite sure what to believe, as he cupped his cheek.

"Well, you guys seemed pretty cozy in there."

"You're making assumptions," she growled. He didn't have the first clue about how things were with her and Yukio.

"No. Something happened when you left the library. He wouldn't be acting like this if you hadn't said or done something to make him think he stood a chance with you." He stepped closer to her. "Tell me: were you just telling me those things so that I would touch you and you could pretend it was Yukio? Because, apparently, all you had to do to get his attention was show a little interest in me. You didn't even have to let me kiss you. You could have left it at that tail tease at lunch and then told me to-" She lunged at him, but he anticipated it, catching her arms before her hands could make contact with his body. What he wasn't expecting was her lips meeting his. She pulled back quickly, her arms falling to her sides.

"Sorry." She leaned against the wall next to the classroom door. "I should control myself better. I'm not even sure what we are or if we're going to be anything." She took a few calming breaths. He just stood there, shocked. "But you need to know that that's not why I wanted to kiss you. I like _you_ , Rin." He pushed her further into the wall and locked their lips again. She felt that warmth again and pulled away. "Why do your powers do that when we kiss?" she whispered.

"I'm not sure." The flames faded completely when Rin let her go. The door to the classroom opened, and Yukio stepped out. His face was set in a mask, a recently common occurrence Akira was not happy with.

"I need to start class, Rin. Akira, you are welcome to stay and observe my class." He didn't wait for a response before he spun on his heel and went back to the front of the room. She groaned since he rarely called her by her full name,and he'd done it twice today. She needed to observe this class for real. She couldn't help thinking, yet again, that this was going to be an incredibly long year.

 _tail touching scene was the beginning of this plot bunny. I'm not done yet! Akira is really confused right now. She's going to be researching why Rin's powers react to her like that. Especially since Yukio decided that he likes her. Or at least he decided to let her know AFTER she started crushing on Rin. Silly boy ._

 _~Tori_


	3. Ch 3: Of Pacts and Wounds

14

Disclaimer.

===AH===

 _Chapter 3: Of Pacts and Wounds_

It had been over two weeks since Akira and Rin had kissed. She was more committed to finding out what was going on with her own body around the twins than being with either of them though, much to the dismay of the boys. It wasn't like she didn't see them. They just wanted more of her time. She'd been spending time with Rin when Yukio was on missions without her, but they were always around people. Neither wanted to risk his flames even for a second. Hand holding was safe for short times, but they kept that to a minimum because they still hadn't figured out what they were. She wasn't committing to anything until she was certain of her feelings.

This coming weekend was going to be interesting though. Akira was helping Yukio with the freshman class of cram school students. They'd be training for a full week to prepare for the exwire exam. According to Yukio, they would be choosing their Meister as well. She was not looking forward to this. She worked ahead on what she could so that she could focus on her task this weekend, but she just wanted to be reading everything she could about demon culture she could get her hands on. She was on her way to see Faust before meeting up with the other freshmen, which concerned her. His office door was open.

"You wished to see me, sir?" He didn't normally seek her out. And she'd made sure to stay under his radar.

"Yes, Miss. Himura." He indicated for her to shut the door, which she did quickly. "I've noticed that you have been logging quite a bit of time in the cram school library." He came around to lean against his desk. "I know that you are ahead in all your normal classes, as well as your cram school classes. Even if you were only working on your research papers, you would still be around your peers more." She gulped. "So. Tell me. Why are you looking so thoroughly into demon lore? Specifically the courting of and the various relationships that occur in their realm." She fell into a chair by the door, which swung open before she could respond.

"Brother, you'll never guess what I brought you!" A man nearly bursting with excitement exclaimed as the knob hit the wall. The man had green hair styled into a single point, which wouldn't have given Akira pause. His state of dress and his pointed teeth, however, did. He was waving a bag at Faust, oblivious to her presence.

"Not now, Amaimon. I have a guest." Akira stood and bowed to the strange man. She would have to look up that name later. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. To be fair, she was trying to figure out how to avoid answering her headmaster.

"It's alright, Mr. Faust. We can continue this later, I'm sure." She smiled tightly. The last thing she wanted to do was have this conversation. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm himself.

"No, we can not." He looked at his brother. "In fact, there's a lot I need to fill you in on. Please, have a seat." He indicated a chair closer to his desk while he went to sit back behind his desk. "You sit as well, brother." Amaimon pouted, but did as he was told. She moved slowly, but sat nonetheless. "Now, please answer my question." She felt her face heat up, but steeled herself for what was to come.

"Rin Okumura is the son of Satan." She didn't think beating around the bush would do with Mr. Faust. "Since you were at Shiro Fujimoto's funeral, don't think I missed the pink standing out against all that black," she added when he opened his mouth to protest, "and Rin was enrolled in the cram school after, I feel confident that you know." She took a deep breath. "What you don't know is that I am a demon descendent, and since Rin and Yukio share blood, Yukio is also recognized as a demon."

"Ooh, brother, could that be true? Two that have inherited father's powers," Amaimon exclaimed. Faust narrowed his eyes at the man. Clearly Faust was tired of his brother's antics.

"Wait. Hold up. That's why I recognized your name. You're one of the Demon Kings." Akira jumped up. Yua started growing. "What the hell are you doing here?" She looked at Faust. "You're another one, aren't you?" He nodded.

"My name is Mephisto Pheles. I serve the True Cross Order."

"That's great. Just fantastic! Not only do I have to deal with a demon triad, but my headmaster is one of the Eight Demon Kings." Her head fell into her hands as she leaned against his desk. Dealing with demons was hard enough when you didn't know them. "This is turning out to be the best day ever, and it's barely started!" She ran her hands over her face. Her familiar did not shrink. Of course her life would be more complicated than killing demons. She had thought that was the end of her involvement with them. ' _I could not have been more wrong. I didn't even think about the fact that Rin and Yukio had eight demon half-brothers. Stupid, stupid...''_

"Time out. You think you're part of a demon triad?" Mephisto was intrigued. He tented his fingers together. ' _Oops.'_ "Truly, Akira?" She looked at him.

"According to all the books I've been going through, cross referencing, and taking notes on, yes. You seem to at least know a bit about them, but I doubt you know that a triad in demon culture involving brothers is both rare and powerful." As she calmed down, Yua shrank, going to poke around on the desk in front of them. "Being bound with a set of twins is literally the strongest bond one could have. Usually one twin is stronger than the other somehow, but both are equal, overall, in power. They are ranked the same in demon hierarchy and they bond at birth. The two can go their whole lives being connected and not knowing because they don't have to actually consummate their bond." She didn't blush. She was in fact mode.

"But how would they bind with you? How do you know?" Amaimon was asking the questions she'd been hoping to avoid. Her headmaster seemed eager to assist, maybe too much so, but she would take what help she could get. For that, she needed to tell them what she knew so far. She didn't know how Amaimon would fit into this, but that couldn't stop her. She wasn't sleeping right because of trying to find an answer.

"What I've found has been virtually nothing in regards to how they would bond with a third member since they are already bound. Fortunately, I have found a lead to something that might help me. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get my hands on a copy."

"And what is it you think might help you?"

" _Infernum Vitae_ ," she said confidently. Amaimon fell out of his chair.

"But there's only three copies between Assiah and Gehenna! And they're all in Latin. What use could a copy of Lilith's book be to you?"

"Because it's rumored that she was in a triad with a set of twins." Mephisto knew what she was looking for. ' _Damn.'_ "And if she's to proceed with the Okumura boys, Akira needs that information."

"You're really going to be our sister-in-law then?" Amaimon was on his feet rocking on them. He seemed excited by the prospect. ' _Was this demon high? Could they get high?'_ Akira pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I would never joke about something like that. This is a serious matter, especially since I'm only fifteen." She glared at the odd demon.

"I think it's a hot matter. Between Rin's flames, and your three needing to get it on, I be-" Akira flushed pink.

"Hush, Amaimon. She needs all her information before she can do a single thing." Mephisto did not look as amused as his brother. She was now a deep shade of red, but she couldn't hide from the two of them.

"So you're going to help me then, Mr. Pheles?" She was testing his real name. He didn't seem to object. And if she could get her hands on that book, she would have everything figured out. Being near the end of her quest, even though she'd have to translate the document before reading it fully and taking notes, was exciting.

"Yes, my dear." She was giddy at the prospect. He smiled widely at her as he stood. "I shall try to have it before summer holidays." She sank into the chair. That was almost three months away. She was already stuck in an emotional limbo. "In the meantime, please keep up with your actual studies."

"Of course." She smiled at the headmaster even though she no longer felt pleased.

"Also, I think it would be in your best interest to not mention this to either boy. Nor should you tell anyone that Amaimon was here."

"I don't want to tell them until I have all the facts. And I'll keep that bit of information to myself." Suddenly she was pulled from her chair.

"Oh, I can't wait to see their faces! And you'll be the best little sister, even though they won't know about me for awhile." The oddly dressed man put her at arm's length. "You will come visit us, right? I know! You can take me around Japan!"

"She will not be your tourguide, brother. She has a lot of responsibilities to tend to." She'd never seen Mephisto raise his voice. And it wasn't so much loud as it was firm, which made a huge difference in the way he came across. Akira felt like she was actually in the presence of a demon rather than her headmaster.

"I'm sure it would be fine, sir. Maybe in a week or so. I need to catch up on some sleep. I've been so engrossed trying to figure out what was going on that I haven't been getting enough of it."

"See? She loves me more than you!" She was pulled back into his chest abruptly before being let go. Mephisto dismissed her and she couldn't have gotten out of there fast enough.

==AH==

When she got back to her room, there was a package from her grandmother on her desk. She sent small care packages every week, so Akira thought nothing of tossing it into her already packed duffle. Since she didn't plan on being in demon killing mode, she only had uniforms, t-shirts, track suits, and other essentials to her week. She double checked her bag and backpack before meeting her roommates, Kamiki and Paku, outside their dorm. She almost felt like any other kid going on a school trip.

"Do you think the boys will behave?" Kamiki asked as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder. Akira knew her friend was talking about Shima even though her statement was general.

"I'm sure Mr. Okumura will keep them in line," Paku responded. Akira snickered.

"I would never be able to call Kio 'Mr. Okumura' to his face. I would laugh every time, I'm sure of it."

"You have known him for a long time," Paku commented. "I imagine if you had become a teacher as well, then you'd have no problem being formal with him."

"Maybe, but I didn't want to teach my first year of high school. I think he's insane. But this is his second year, so I guess it's not that bad."

"As much as I like school, I would rather teach than have more school work," Kamiki spoke up. Akira shrugged one shoulder this time.

"It'd be way more work to be a teacher. I have enough on my plate."

"Like going to school, killing demons, and dating Mr. Okumura?" Paku giggled and swayed into Akira slightly.

"We aren't dating," she grumbled in reply.

"Are you and Rin together?" Kamiki inquired.

"No."

"Then why are they so angry when you spend time with the other?" Kamiki halted and put her hands on her hips. Paku nervously bit her lip. "If neither is dating you, then they should get over it and let you hang out with whoever you want." Akira sighed as she too stopped, silently agreeing with that sentiment.

"They both like me," she started.

"Obviously." Kamiki rolled her eyes.

"I won't pick one over the other. I don't want to come between them." She began walking again. They followed, running to catch up to her fast pace.

"Which is why they aren't getting along." The smaller girl nodded.

"You've known Mr. Okumura longer. Shouldn't the decision be simple?" Paku asked shyly.

"One would think," Akira called over her shoulder before going into the boys' dorm without her friends.

==AH==

She'd left Yukio to tend to settling the boys in while she and the girls did the same. Her plan was to unpack the everyday items to make her week in this dorm run a little smoother, but her grandmother's package distracted her from getting far. Inside was what looked like an amulet on a silver chain. The stone was a blue that she'd only ever seen when looking into the Okumura brother's eyes. There was a letter tucked under her favorite cookies at the bottom of the box.

 _My Brightest Angel,_

 _I hope this finds you well. I was sorting through my jewelry box when I found my old locket and thought of you. Your grandfather said it would keep me safe when he was away on business. After he passed away, I thought that a piece of jewelry wouldn't be as effective as your mother._

 _I know it looks too old to wear, but it was well taken care of. He had it for a long time before I received it for our first wedding anniversary. His mother gave it to him while he was young. As a half-demon, he aged very slowly. He was nearly one hundred when we met, though I didn't know that until much later in our marriage. I was always jealous of his youth, but it kept me from feeling too old. I'm aware it's strange, but it's the truth. Your grandfather had a life inside him that I miss dearly every day._

 _Anyways, I would like you to wear it as a reminder to be careful. You are put in dangerous positions frequently and wish you all the luck I could possibly offer._

 _Your mother sends her love, as do I,_

 _Gram_

Akira didn't understand how it was a locket, but as she played with it, she noticed that the back had hinges at the bottom of the metal. Inside was a picture of her grandmother and grandfather when they were younger. It was sweet so she left it there before closing and putting on the necklace. It stayed cool against her chest while she unpacked.

"That's beautiful, Kira. Where did you get it?" Paku asked when she noticed the piece around her friend's neck.

"My grandmother sent it to me. She asked me to wear it, and I can't ignore a request of hers."

"She wouldn't know if you didn't though," Kamiki said.

"But I would know. Plus, I adore it already. I've never had something this lovely." She touched the chain.

"Than maybe you shouldn't wear it all the time." Kamiki was being logical again. Yes, that made sense, but that's not what the letter suggested she do.

"I'm willing to take my chances." She traced the outline of the stone. "I've got to go over my papers for this week. I'll be in the dining room."

"But that's not due until Friday!" Kamiki called after her. Akira knew when her papers were due. She had more than Kamiki realized and wanted to make sure they were all up to her standards. Plus, so far Yukio hadn't asked for her help with the other students. It would be a great use of her time.

"I just got called away for a mission." She looked up, startled by his presence, and sure enough he was in his uniform. The sun was no longer shining into the dining room, which meant that it was well past noon.

"What about the kiddos?" she jested.

"I told them to behave. I should only be gone about an hour." She didn't like the idea of him going on missions without her, especially when he wasn't telling her what it involved.

"You don't need my skills then?"

"It should be something relatively easy. Can you handle them?" She put her things into neat piles, the more important documents going into her bag.

"I'm not staying here to babysit for you. They're old enough to take care of themselves."' _They're our age. They'll be fine,'_ she kept to herself.

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Go with you, of course." Yukio rolled his eyes. "I've gotta change quick. Come with me." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to a door to get to her dorm faster. Once in her room, she kicked him outside to change into her gear. She kept her tee shirt on, but switched to shorts and boots. "Ready!" she called as her phone went off. It wasn't a number she recognized, but in this business you didn't ignore those. Yukio came in, leaning against the door jam, as she answered the call.

"Himura."

" _Sissy!_ Come save me. _"_ Amaimon's voice was so loud she was sure Yukio heard it, especially since she had to pull the phone away from her ear. ' _Shit.'_

"Where are you?" Her best friend was looking at her funnily. She turned away from him. She'd left him in Mephisto's office. How did he even get her number?

"In Tokyo. I'm pretty sure I'm lost."

"Why not just use your key?" she hissed as quietly as she could.

"That's no fun! Come be lost with me!" Her left eye twitched.

"I couldn't get lost in Tokyo if I tried." She sighed. "I'll be there in ten minutes. I'll call you back." She didn't wait for a response. She faced Yukio. "I'll see you in a few hours." She shed most of her weapons. If she was going to hang out with a demon it was best to seem like she trusted him.

"Who was that? I didn't know you had a brother." He was her best friend. Of course he would realize that she'd been called 'Sissy.' _'Double shit.'_

"One of my friends from London," she lied.

"And he knows you're an exorcist?"

"When I missed being there, I would pop that way. It was at random and he always let me stay with him. He was my best friend there." Yukio's face fell as that information sank in.

"I'm not sure how I feel about this. You're going to Tokyo to save some idiot from being lost."

"Stop that." She closed her door, picked up her jeans and disappeared into her closet, which she _just_ fit into.

"Stop what? It's true! I'll be worried about you."

"You're acting like a jealous boyfriend again." Her voice was muffled in her clothes, but she wanted to put her jeans back on and this was the only way to keep their conversation in her room. "Ami is like a brother, literally, to me. Mom wouldn't have let me go over there otherwise." She went to step out of her closet only to end up falling onto the floor as she tripped over one of her sneakers. "Ow." She rolled over and rubbed her elbow.

"Are you okay?" She nodded before getting up. He sighed then. "I'm not trying to be jealous, I promise. I just don't want you to get hurt." She wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Then maybe I'm in the wrong field," she joked. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Ki," he whispered. Her chest tightened, but she had to leave.

"I feel the same way, Kio, but you have to go on your mission." She hugged him tighter before letting go. "I'll meet you back at the dorm." He kissed the top of her head before leaving her. When she got to Tokyo, she called Amaimon. "What are the streets you're by?" He gave her the street he knew he was on and she hung up on him. There was a few places her key would work if she thought of them. Once there, she jumped and pushed off a wall to get to an iron overhang so she could see the pest.

"You really came!" he cried from right below her. She did a flip off the railing and landed in front of him. She smacked his hands away when he tried to grab her.

"You know, usually I'm not violent toward demons unless it's necessary." She crossed her arms to keep from harming the strangest demon she'd ever met. "What is wrong with you?"

"I figured this was the only way I'd get you to be my tour guide." She took a deep relaxing breath.

"I told you I would go with you next week. I was busy." Her eyes narrowed. "How'd you even get my number?" she asked before he could say something even more asinine.

"Well, you're here now. Let's do something fun!" He didn't answer her question, nor did he seem like he would. She rolled her eyes. ' _Spoiled brat...'_

"I am. So come on. I know just where to take you."

==AH==

The sun had set by the time Akira dragged Amaimon back to True Cross. She had the newest manga for each of the twin's favorites along with her favorite sweets from the capitol. Amaimon had bags that were overflowing with goodies, some of which she wasn't allowed to see until after the boys found out about the triad. She, personally, didn't want to know what he bought her after his comments this morning.

"There you are!" Yukio cried when she entered Mephisto's office. He pulled her tightly to him and Amaimon disappeared from his place behind her. All his bags fell to the floor, but they were paid no mind. "I've been trying to call you for the past hour." She checked her phone, which was basically dead. She couldn't get calls when it was this low, but it would ring and ring for the person trying to reach her anyways.

"Sorry. Ami and I were catching up and my phone died." She pulled away from him and caught sight of Amaimon as what looked like a hamster. She held back a laugh.

"Mr. Okumura, why don't you go double check on your students. I will send Miss. Himura along shortly," Mephisto requested. Reluctantly, Yukio left the office. Her headmaster looked thoughtful. "He really doesn't know about your potential bond?" Akira shook her head. "Interesting," he commented, but left it at that.

"Brother, I have a present!" The green haired demon was back.

"Another? You must stop this." Amaimon pouted. Akira ignored him as Mephisto was clearly trying to do.

"Sir, is there something you needed of me?" She wanted to know what happened. Yukio wasn't one to _show_ his worry so much as voice it.

"No, nothing I require of you. I need to tell you what transpired this evening." ' _This sounds like it's going to be bad...'_

"Alright, then tell me."

"Miss. Paku was injured while you were away." Akira fell onto the floor finding it hard to breath. Terrible was the word echoing around her mind. "It was during their exwire test, which I didn't tell you about before hand. Mr. Neuhaus was to send a ghoul in for them all the figure out how to defeat. They accomplished the main task, but Rin was nearly exposed in the process. " She still felt like she couldn't breath. _'If only I stayed...'_ kept repeating in her head.

"I-" Her words choked on her inability to get air into her lungs. "Where is Paku now?" she said instead after she felt her chest loosen.

"The school hospital. Miss. Moriyama's treatment helped to-" Akira didn't stay to listen to the end of his statement. She needed to see for herself that Paku was okay. She rushed to the door, opening it to be across campus. ' _I can't waste any more time...'_ It smelled of antiseptic and faintly of blood. There was nurse in the hall that seemed unphased by her appearance.

"I'm here to see Noriko Paku."

"Room 210. She's weak, but conscious." She took off running toward the indicated room.

"Noriko..." fell from her lips when she saw her friend. She didn't notice the tears falling down her face. She could take in air more readily now. "Gods above!" She rushed to the side of the bed.

"Hi, Kira. I'm fine, promise. Stop freaking out," Paku smiled at her.

"But I wasn't there to protect you!" Kamiki came into the room and sat at the end of Paku's bed. "If Shiemi hadn't-" She took a breath. It was getting hard to breathe again. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It made me realize that I don't really want to be an exorcist though."

"What?" Kamiki did not look happy about this prospect.

"We'll talk about it later, Izumo. Right now I'm really tired." She patted Akira's hand and sighed before relaxing further into the bed.

"As long as you're still going to be my roommate, then you can do whatever you need to do, Iko," Akira whispered. "You just get better." She all but dragged Kamiki from the room. Once outside, she wiped her face. "Let's get back to the dorm." She felt the taller girl try to plant herself into the ground.

"I am _not_ leaving my best friend."

"She's stable. You will be no use to her here right now. Let's go." Akira tugged again. Kamiki didn't budge. "Izumo, don't make me carry you back there."

"You're too small to carry me back to the Okumura dorm." Akira let go of her hand like she was going to leave her behind, but then she wrapped her arms around the other girl's waist and threw her over her shoulder. "What are you doing? Put me down!"

"Hush, Izzy. You'll wake Iko." The girl fell silent. "And I'm carrying you back like I said I would." She flicked at the taller girl's long legs every time she tried to flail. She was going to walk back to the dorm just to prove a point.

===AH===

The next few days were stressful for everyone. They still were going to classes in addition to this bootcamp, though Akira was able to skip most of that if need be. She was there because Yukio asked for help. Right now she was on her way to get some time in at the cram school gym.

"Kira!" someone called from behind her. "Wait up!" She looked over her shoulder to see Shima coming toward her. She was glad to be wearing one of her track suits. The other kids still didn't know she was fully ranked and she wanted to keep it that way a little while longer. "I need your help."

"With...?" She really wanted to punch something. Everyone was at each other's throats and it was driving her up a wall. Shima, bless him, noticed her tense posture and stopped out of arm's reach.

"Getting Kamiki and Bon together." He said it so simply, like he was talking about the weather, she thought she'd misheard him.

"What?" Her head craned away from her body trying to read him better.

"I think they would be perfect together." She squinted at him. "They're both really smart, as well as dedicated to their craft."

"And I think you've lost your mind. Kamiki doesn't likes anyone, let alone Bon." She was speaking like he was a small child. "Actually, especially Bon." His eyes narrowed at her.

"I'm not as stupid as people think, you know! Bon really likes her. He's always trying to impress her with his knowledge. They are the top of our cram school classes." Akira sighed and rubbed her temples.

"That's not that hard," she grumbled and rubbed her temples. "Say you're right. Say he does like her. What about her? I repeat: she doesn't like anyone."

"But you're her friend! You can find out. She might not have told anyone yet." He had a point. While Kamiki was her roommate and becoming a close friend, it was possible she didn't feel comfortable enough with her to tell her about something so personal.

"Alright. I'll concede that. But I'm not helping you! I will try and find out what I can and then give _her_ advice from there." He picked her up and spun them around. "Put me down, Renzo!" She whacked at his back. He ignored her. Apparently she wasn't scary anymore.

"Thanks, Kira! You're the best!" She pinched his shoulder. Hard. He dropped her. She caught herself from falling over completely by grabbing onto him and bending her knees slightly.

"Don't do that _ever_ again." Her voice was hard. He gulped and nodded. "Good. See you later."

==AH==

"I have another mission." Akira had just finished doing dodge work. She didn't like that he was going on another mission so soon after the attack on the students, but she couldn't voice that. He'd told her that he was back to the dorm before the nebarius could do more damage, but that it had escaped. It was possible it would come back. She didn't fully trust her headmaster not to test them again now that a weak link had more or less been eliminated. "You're to come with me." She sheathed her sword.

"How long is this one to take?"

"Three hours. They'll be fine."

"That's what we thought last time, which was supposed to be shorter," she huffed. "Did you tell them to be focused at least?"

"I did. But this is the last part of their exwire exam. Faust doesn't want me to be there." The name threw Akira off before she remembered that Yukio didn't know that she knew the demon's real name.

"Alright. I'll come with you. I'll meet you outside my dorm. I want to drop my bag and grab my belt."

Akira stormed into Mephisto's office through a key opened door some hours later. That nebarius came back after the kids while she was on her mission with Yukio. Not only had Rin used Kurikara against half of it, the others had barely dealt with the other half. Sure, she now understood more what Shiro was telling her and Yukio last year about the sword, but that didn't quell her aggravation. Yukio was dealing with damages right now.

"You bastard! What were you thinking? You ordered a survivor of the Blue Night to give the exam against the Son of Satan. Are you out of your mind, Pheles?" Okay, so she was livid. He'd put them in danger needlessly. You only did that by taking them on a mission. ' _This week was supposed to prepare them for goodness sakes, not kill them!'_

"Are you quite done, Miss. Himura?" He didn't look up from the paperwork he was going over. His calm demeanor set her off. Her locket felt hot against her skin which she only noticed when she was suspended in a red sphere. Amaimon popped back to form.

"Sissy?" She looked around her trying to figure out what was happening. "You have demon powers!" As she calmed, the bubble she was in lowered until her feet touched the ground, but did not break. Mephisto walked over to her slowly. At her glare, she was back in the air with the barrier molding around her body.

"How are you doing that, Akira?" her headmaster asked.

"If I knew, I wouldn't still be in it!" She took several calming breaths. The locket cooled and she felt when the shield broke. She landed on the floor in a crouch. When she straightened, Mephisto's eyes landed on her necklace.

"Where did you get that amulet?" He reached out to touch it, but thought better of it when he saw her still stony face. She stepped further away from him.

"My grandmother. She sent it a few days ago and said it would protect me. My grandfather had given it to her." He was staring and it bothered her. "Why?"

"I have a theory. For now, though, I'll keep that to myself." She didn't like that answer, but knew that she wouldn't get anything out of him. His brother sat on his desk with a lollipop in his mouth. "As for your burst there, I was thinking that I had a professional in my school, not someone who would put my students in danger for his own agenda. He was given strict orders. I warned him to be careful with Rin Okumura, but I didn't tell him about my little brother. He must have put it together."

"Fine." She gritted out. She didn't fully believe him, but there was nothing she could do about that.

"Now that that's settled, I must say that I'm proud to tell you that they all passed. I'll be taking them out for dinner after I make the announcement. You are to join us." She nodded her head once. "In the meantime, I suggest you visit Rin. He's in the exorcist only section of the hospital. You'll notice that it's the same space that Miss. Paku was in over the weekend."

"I already went to see him. That's why I ended up here." She crossed her arms.

"Ah, that explains quite a bit." He sat back at his desk going back to paperwork. Amaimon sent her a wink before turning back into a hamster. She knew she'd been dismissed and was happy to get out of there.

===AH===

When Rin was fully healed, which didn't take as long as it would a normal human, Akira and Yukio had to lie to his classmates. ' _He'd always been a quick healer,'_ and ' _He wasn't really injured that badly. I'm not surprised he's up and about,'_ were the excuse lines they're been following until everyone dropped the subject.

"Hey, Kira, it's nice out today. Want to enjoy it with Kamiki and I?" Paku asked. She'd been released about two days ago and she just wanted to get some fresh air. Akira smiled, but shook her head.

"I've got to finish reading this before class tomorrow."

"What have you been working on so hard that you can't take even a little break?" Kamaki was being a little harsh, but Akira had been blowing them off so she could figure all this out. She pursed her lips.

"I'm researching something for one of my pharmacology papers," she lied. Kamiki squinted at her. "I could actually use some help. Are you free at all this week to meet me in the cram school library?"

"Sure. How about Tuesday?" Kamiki suggested.

"That's great! Now, let's go get some ice cream or something." Akira beamed at her roommates before packing up her stuff and slipping on her shoes.

===AH===

 _That wasn't quite how I thought dealing with the exwire exam would go, but sometimes characters react in ways you least expect. I really liked writing the Amaimon bits. He makes me giggle so hard and I wanted to play with him a bit. Haha_

 _~Tori_


	4. Ch 4: Run, Train, Stop

Disclaimer.

===AH===

 _Chapter 4: Run, Train, Stop._

The school had just finished with mid-terms. All of Akira's hard work was paying off. She was ahead of just about everyone in her classes, even the cram school kids that were older than her. She'd been able to train everyday, and the days she didn't was because she was in the field on minor missions. It was exciting.

Currently, Akira was heading to the Okumura boys' dorms to pick up Yukio. It was one of their running days. Most of the time she was on her own, but he had kept his two days a week promise; rarely, they got more than that in a week.

"Ready to get beat?" Akira said as she approached him out front.

"You say that every time, but you still haven't won against me."

"Hey! I came close last time!" He chuckled as they started stretching their legs to warm up. The sun was starting to become bright in its rise. "And, anyways, I asked Mr. Faust to set up a course for us."

"That explains why you're dressed in _your_ exorcist uniform." Akira blushed slightly as he took in her black shorts, weapon's belt, red long sleeved crop top, and low boots. Training with Shura had made it nearly impossible for her to be self-conscious, but Yukio and her didn't go on missions together often. It was a rare time he could see the markings for her summonings as well as some that were not for that purpose. "Are those new?" he asked while pointing out white scarring that appeared to be words across her left hip.

"Yeah, I did them for my birthday." She lied. Her mother had helped her with them after she failed to help save Shiro. She bent forward in order to stretch her back and hamstrings out.

"They aren't like your other ones." He continued to stretch from one side to the other, holding the position before switching.

"How observant." She rolled her eyes. "These are careful cuts, actually." Yukio snapped upright.

"You cut yourself?!" She shrugged trying not to make a big deal about it. He was surprised, but there was hurt and worry on his face as well. She'd never seen him so put out.

"It translates roughly to ' _I protect the world.'_ It's on my left hip because I couldn't have it on my hand." He shook his head at her, clearly thinking she lost her mind. ' _He wouldn't understand. They're a reminder.'_ "Anyways, wanna get changed into your gear?" He was in his normal running outfit: shorts, sneakers, tee shirt.

"No. I want to be back before Rin gets up." Akira chuckled. Rin hated getting up early. There was no way he would be up before they got back.

Normally their run was only an hour. This morning Mephisto had decided that the course was going to be harder than she had asked. _'Because that's what I want to be doing with my Saturday morning.'_ So it was about three hours later before they were trudging up the steps of Yukio's dorm, but they barely made it to the top of the stairs. She was so drained she couldn't even scowl properly.

"Remind me not to ask that damn man for any favors in the future. I would kill him, but I don't have any energy left." Akira was not happy. "Now I'm going to have to use the key to get back to my dorm. I don't have the will to walk back across campus." She groaned.

"Come on, Ki. You know you have more energy than that."

"No I don't," she whined. "I used a little burst at the end to get back here before you." She was so tired.

"And you still didn't beat me!"

"By one step! I'm getting a lot better at dealing with the physical stuff against you. I'll be the best female knight the Order has seen." He laughed, groaning when his muscles protested moving.

"Don't let Shura ever hear you say that."

"Fine. I'll be at least as good as her, but I _do_ want to be better." Yukio nodded, not willing to move anymore than that. They rested on the stairs until the sun was higher and hotter in the sky. Akira's phone went off just as she was drifting off. It was a text from Bon. He was on his way to tutoring and Shima was apparently freaking out. "Gah, I need to go! I promised Shima that I would help him with his biology homework before lunch time." Yukio scowled. "He had a free period this morning, and a meeting with his teacher early this afternoon, he figured I could help."

"Shima can't be trusted." He sat up and crossed his arms. Akira laughed. Apparently he wasn't in as much pain as he let on. She was kind of envious of his ability to move right now as she too sat up, wincing slightly.

"Shima is a harmless flirt. He can definitely be trusted." She stood and stretched trying to release the pain. "We'll catch up later. Up for hand to hand in the training center after dinner?" Yukio laughed.

"What happened to not having any energy?" he teased.

"Once I eat, I'll be fine. You know that. See you at six thirty!" she called over her shoulder as she took off across campus. She hated being lazy in the use of her key. She wouldn't have time to shower, but she could at least change.

"Where'd you go this morning?" Kamiki asked as Akira entered their shared room. She didn't think anyone was awake when she left at dawn; apparently her purple haired roommate was. Their friendship was odd, but Akira liked how blunt the other girl could be. It kept her in better check. Plus, the chick was crazy smart, which helped with her research more than she cared to admit. Kamiki still didn't know what Akira was working on because she didn't want to risk losing someone due to her own history.

"On my run with Yukio." She started stripping off her gear. Kamiki spun around from her desk.

"What are those markings?" The older girl squinted at her.

"I got bored with a sharpie. It'll come off eventually." Akia lied, shrugging as she put away her weapons belt. Kamiki nodded slowly as if she didn't really believe her.

"You usually would have been back by now," she commented instead of calling Akira out. The later rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Yeah...I asked Faust to set up a light course for Kio and I this morning, and it ended up being _really_ long. We were so exhausted we nearly fell asleep on the front steps of his dorm." Kamiki nodded before turning back to her work. Akira slipped a tee shirt and tracksuit over her field outfit. "I'm going to tutor Shima. Wanna tag along?"

"I don't think so. He's a pervert that I try to spend as little time around as I can." Akira shrugged even though her friend couldn't see it. She gathered up her cram school work, which was all paperwork, the book she was currently reading for her research, and her biology texts.

"Suit yourself. If you change your mind, text me. I'll let you know where we are." She didn't wait for a response. She was running really late as it was and she wanted to grab something to munch while she was tutoring Shima, who was completely useless with science. There was a reason he shared most of his normal classes with Rin.

==AH==

It was roughly dinner time. Akira was in the cram school library taking notes from the _Demon Chronicles_ , which was a collection the Order had put together as a reference for the exorcist schools across the globe. She had only spent an hour with Shima, but that was all he seemed to be able to take before getting completely frustrated. She hoped he at least passes the test he has Monday. The rest of her day after cram classes, of which she only had two, was spent in this library. She needed to read through the _Chronicles_ anyways for her _Most Effective Ways to Heal Demon Wounds_ paper, so she was taking two sets of notes, as well as keeping a running list of other books to cross reference. Between a paper for advanced pharmacology III and her own person project, she was killing two birds with one stone, which pleased her immensely. It was here that Bon found her. She glanced at him before going back to her work. He had Konekomaru with him, but not Shima. _'Odd,'_ she thought.

"Greetings, Miss. Himura." Konekomaru was polite as ever. "Have you heard what happened with Rin and Yukio today?" She dropped her pen.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly. "Are they okay?" She started putting all her things together, sorting papers as she threw questions at them without waiting for answers, "Where are they?" and "Are they hurt?" among them.

"Whoa, Miss. Akira, slow down. They're both fine. Yukio sent out a text to tell us how Rin handled this cat sídhe. Didn't you get it?" She took a few calming breaths before she spoke again.

"There is literally no reception in this library. It's one of the reasons I prefer studying here, actually."

"Really? The classrooms have reception." Bon was being oddly dense.

"Yes, but if you're in this library, you are likely looking for important information, which means you need to concentrate. Phones going off would be distracting." The boys nodded in understanding. She put her hands on her hips. "Now, what was this about a cat sídhe?"

"It just went crazy at the south gate of the city!" Konekomaru started. "It was tipping over cars and attacking exorcists and-" Akira held up a hand effectively cutting him off.

"Wait. Back up. The south gate?"

"Yeah. It was fine one minute and freaking out the next." ' _Damn it, Kuro.'_

"And how was it dealt with?"

"Rin used his head," Bon scoffed.

"There's a first for everything," sighed Akira.

"No. He head butted it," Konekomaru explained. Akira groaned.

"I have to go." She shouldered her bag. "Rin's going to need more than basic ice if he headbutted a cat sídhe. I'll message Shiemi. See you guys Monday!"

"It's Saturday!" Bon yelled after her.

"I know. Study hard!" She called Shiemi as she opened the door to the library with her key. After she entered the Okumura brother's dorm, Shiemi picked up and agreed to bring over medicines for Rin within the hour. Akira sighed as she closed the door she came though. This was one of those times where using her key wasn't an issue. "Kio?" she called. "Rin?" Her phone started going berserk. She apparently missed a lot today, but she was more concerned about checking on Yukio and Rin.

"Ki?" She spun around to see Yukio with a towel wrapped around his waist, hair damp, and glasses slightly foggy. "What are you doing here?" Her breath caught. ' _Shit.'_ She was used to him keeping pretty well covered. She was also used to a head's up if she was going to see him shirtless, but it had been nearly five years since he went to the beach with her family.

"I-er, that is...Bon told me that Rin might be hurt, and Konekomaru said it had something to do with a cat sídhe," she stuttered. "Wait, reverse them." She bit her lip hard to keep from rambling.

"Hey, Kira," Rin called from behind her. She spun toward him. His head was sticking out of his room. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Want to meet Kuro?"

" _Kira!'_ she heard in a slightly squeaky voice as a black blur came running out of the twin's room. It lept up and Akira caught it.

"Hello, Kuro. I hear you had an eventful day." The cat nuzzled into her neck.

' _No. It was a terrible day.'_ the cat whimpered.

"Wait!" Rin exclaimed straightening up and walking out of his room. "You can talk to him?" Akira gave him a curious look, but continued to shower Kuro with attention.

"Of course. Can't you?"

"Well, yeah. But he's a demon, and I'm a half-demon. It makes sense." She just bit her lip and shrugged.

"It's one of my abilities, Rin." He didn't need to know her theory about some of her skills.

"But Yukio made it sound like only demons could talk to each other like that!" She turned around slowly to look at Yukio.

"Well, usually that's right." He looked sheepish. Akira glared at him.

"In any event," she looked back at Rin, a hand on her hip. "I can hear most demons. Yukio was always mad I could talk to his dad's familiar and he couldn't." Rin gave her the biggest grin.

"That's so cool!" He tried to pull her into him.

"Yes, yes. It's as fabulous as Faust's outfits," she deadpanned as she ducked out his arms, but didn't stop from leaning into him slightly. "In the meantime, Kio, please put some clothes on. We've got training to do." Yukio turned the darkest shade of red she'd ever seen him. She couldn't help laughing as he all but ran to his room and slammed the door. "Care to join us, Rin?"

"Nah. I want to relax the rest of day. Plus, I'm having fun getting to know Kuro." The cat in question climbed over to Rin and curled up on top of his head. Akira was suddenly too aware of the way they were: no one around to see his flames, no Yukio to get jealous. She coughed and shifted so she was facing him, putting her arms around his neck. He gulped. "What's up, Kira?" he whispered. She exaggerated looking for other people.

"Nothing. I was just taking note of something." She put her head against his chest.

"And what's that?"

"We're alone," she whispered.

"I have a cat sídhe on my head." She laughed.

"We're not around anyone we have to hide your flames from," she amended. He let out an 'oh' of understanding.

"In that case, I would like to take advantage of this." His arms encircled her waist. The heat of his flames started dancing over their skin, but there was no light. It was a strange sensation, but not completely unpleasant.

"That's what I'm doing." She pulled away slightly and looked up to meet his bright blue eyes, which had some hair covering them. She reached up, brushing the hair back only to have it fall forward again, though now it was out of the way of his as he was about to kiss her, Yukio came back out into the hallway. Akira let her face fall back into Rin's chest, her hands on his shoulders and bit her lip to keep from groaning.

"Ready, Ki?" He looked up from fixing his weapons belt and stopped short. Akira noticed how his face shifted into that hard mask she had come to hate. She pulled away from Rin completely.

"Yeah. Let's go." They used his key to get to the training room. ' _Guess we're back to square one...'_

They had just finished their third round of hand to hand combat. His outer jacket and weapons belt were discarded to the side of the room along with her track suit. They were two to one, Akira winning. She never beat him this many times in a hand to hand contest. He wasn't concentrating.

"Are we going to talk about it?" She was wiping off some of the sweat dripping down her face with a towel while debating cutting her hair again.

"There's nothing to talk about. You obviously want to be with Rin. I'm just your best friend." He drank deeply from his water bottle.

"Are you? Because you aren't acting like we're _just_ best friends. You're still being the jealous guy from several weeks ago."

"Well, I am, okay? I'm jealous of my brother. He gets to hold you, and hang out with you, and kiss you, and-" He sat on one of the few benches in the room as she cut him off.

"No, he doesn't. And you and I hang out." She crossed her arms.

"Not the same way. Us hanging out is doing this stuff. Fighting each other to be stronger against demons; racing each other to be faster; studying to get better grades than the other." Akira laughed loudly, throwing her hands in the air at his behavior.

"Yukio, that's just the way our relationship is. If you'd like to do other things, then come up with something else. I just assumed you liked doing these things."

"I do, but not every time we see each other. That seems to be the only thing we do any more. We used to just relax together before coming here."

"That was before you were teaching in the cram school, _and_ we both decided to up our game in training," she pointed out. "And before I made the commitment to run more." She took a deep breath to keep from yelling at him. Why was he being such a stupid boy? "When we run, we talk, ya know. It's not like we don't have conversations just like we did before coming here. It's just between beating the crap out of each other." She smiled fondly.

"Fine, but that doesn't change the fact that my brother gets to kiss you while you ignore the fact that we both like you." Her smile fell. She sat next to him, leaning against his arm with her head on his shoulder.

"Kio, Rin and I haven't kissed since you saw us weeks ago." She rubbed her temple. "His safety is more important than our desire to kiss each other." He stared at some point in front of them instead of focusing on her, not that she was blaming him. She didn't really _want_ to have this conversation, but it was needed at this point. ' _I feel like we're going in circles. I hate it.'_

"Oh...well." He glanced at her. "Still. You said you had to figure out what you were going to do with the two of us. It's been awhile."

"I did say that, but it hasn't really been that long. And I still am." She bit her lip. "Trying to figure out us, I mean. That's why I've been in the library so much."

"Want to fill me in?" She turned her face up toward him.

"Not until I've found all the information I need." Yukio pouted slightly. She giggled. "However, you are right. If I'm going to figure out what's going on with me and you guys, I need to keep the playing field even, so to speak."

"I've gotten way more time with you than Rin. That could take a while," he joked.

"True, but he's kissed me, and you haven't. You made a good point." She was trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice, but she could tell it was still there. She wasn't sure she was really ready to have Yukio kiss her. In fact, it kind of terrified her. She used to think about it all the time before she told him she liked him. She hadn't thought about it since.

"Is that so?" He sounded as nervous as she felt. "You don't normally agree with me so readily." She sat up and smacked his upper arm.

"I do too, you jerk," she huffed as he started laughing. She crossed her arms in annoyance and pouted slightly. "The only time I don't agree with you is when you're being an idiot. Example: being jealous of Rin."

"That's not the same and you know it." It was her turn to laugh at him for pouting playfully. He didn't do it often. It softened his face, which she liked.

"I know, but I like pointing out that you're human from time to time. Most people think you're a robot." He laughed. "Want to spar again?" she asked as she stood up. He followed suit, but shook his head. "Okay, then what-" he pulled her to him, "do you want to do?" she whispered as her hands fell to his shoulders.

"I want to take you out." His voice was soft; she'd never heard him so vulnerable. That wasn't what she was expecting him to say though. She tried to hide her disappointment.

"But it's late, and I'd want to shower before we went anywhere. I feel gross and I'm sure I smell terrible." She made a show of smelling under her arms and being disgusted. He laughed at her antics.

"Then..." he trailed off. "How about we grab bento boxes from the corner store and sit on my dorm roof instead?"

"That sounds like a fantastic alternative." She beamed at him. He tightened his arms around her. She tentatively reached her arms up further to wrap around his neck. Their gazes locked. His small smile made her breath catch yet again today. This was new for them; usually her arms were around his middle and her head was buried in his chest. She licked her lips, shifting her gaze to his mouth and back to his eyes. He caught the movement, but did nothing. "So..." she started. "Are we staying like this forever, or are we getting food?" She was trying, and failing, to calm her nerves. "I'm starving." His smile grew. "You can't tease me with food! It's not right!" He chuckled as he dipped his head. She closed her eyes as his lips touched hers. Her whole body hummed; she pushed onto her toes and responded whole heartedly. When his tongue hesitantly licked the seam of her mouth, she allowed him access. Her body fit against his much too perfectly. It wasn't quite the same way she seemed to be made for Rin's. There was also a contentment she hadn't felt with the other boy. However, the feeling to keep going, kiss deeper, touch more, was just as strong. That was when she realized she was wrong. She slowly broke their kiss, gently biting his lower lip just before it was out of her reach. When he tried to kiss her again, she turned her head to the right and fell back onto her feet.

"What's wrong, Ki?" he whispered. "Did I misread this? Should I have waited?" She shook her head, looking back at him in the process.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong." She couldn't put her feelings into words. At her silence, he tried to kiss her again. She let him, only this time she took more initiative. She pushed him until he was sitting back on the bench, keeping her lips attached to his until he was fully sat, which was when she started second guessing what she was doing. She pulled away from him, standing and breathing heavily. She locked eyes with him. He looked so hurt. Her heart was pounding.

"You could have just said-" her lips were on his harshly for just a moment before she ghosted her lips over his.

"I was lying, Yukio. Weeks ago," she whispered. He kissed her; she broke it. "I didn't know it until now though."

"Ki, stop talking." He pecked her lips and then said, "I just want to keep kissing you, and touching you," as he peppered her face with kisses. She giggled and started to relax again.

"Okay," she whispered. When she straddled his lap, he groaned. She blushed. His arousal was more noticeable in this position even without being fully seated. She tried to get up, but he held fast around her waist.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, or pressured, but I like kissing you, Ki." She smiled, going back to said activity. She ran her hands through his hair. His hands moved from her hips to her hair to let her ponytail loose. She got impatient with his attempts since he was more focused on their locked lips. She let go of him to tear the holder out herself only to have her fall fully on his lap. She gasped at the sensation.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before she laid her head into the crook of his shoulder; his hands fell back to her sides. He traced his lips over her neck, using just the tip of his tongue to taste her once in awhile.

"Your skin is sweet." His soft words danced across her pebbled flesh. She wasn't going to argue with him even though she was sweating not twenty minutes ago. He licked from the top of her shirt collar to right below her ear. She let out a breathy sigh. When he took her earlobe between his lips and lightly sucked, she couldn't hold back the low moan. He moved back down her neck, sucking lightly at random spots.

"Gods, Kio." Her hands were on his, moving them to her bare thighs. He squeezed her flesh. She wiggled on his lap. He bit down at the edge of her shoulder. "What have we been missing out on?" she breathed. She pulled his face back to hers, holding fast until she was sure he wasn't going back to her neck. Her hands moved to the edge of his shirt, pushing the hem up so she could trace circles on his skin. He sighed against her mouth and moved his hands, copying her movements. She felt like she couldn't get enough of him. There wasn't a driving force making her feel like she wanted to be consumed before she started kissing him, but once his lips touched hers, she was gone. It was like nothing she'd never experienced. But then thoughts of another blue eyed boy entered her mind and she was across the room from Yukio before he realized what happened. She ran a hand through her mussed hair. "Shit." She looked at him. His lips were a bit swollen from her bites, his eyes were glazed over, and his shirt was riding up his torso. She just wanted to go back into his arms and continue what they were doing.

"Are you alright, Kira?"

"Yeah," she said a little too quickly. His face showed that he didn't believe her for a second. "I just feel like I'm being a terrible friend to you." She couldn't keep her voice from cracking. He was up and she was enveloped in his embrace as the tears started falling quietly. He rubbed her back; her arms were around his waist, fists tight on his shirt to keep her grounded. This was normal for them. This was contentment. This was how good, long lasting relationships started. _'This is what love must feel like.'_ She tried to calm herself down at the thought. _'Love?...Yes, that's definitely what this is. That explains some of the knowing looks from mum.'_ She bit the inside of her cheek.

"How are you being a terrible friend? I know what I'm getting myself into." She tried to disappear into his body. _'Home...'_ her heart cried. ' _But what about Rin...'_

"No, you don't," she sobbed. His arms wrapped more securely around her shoulders.

"Yes, I do. You like Rin. You like me. It's just a matter of how we're all going to handle this." She loosened her grip on his shirt.

"Based off of the research I've done, it might not be as simple as you think, Kio," she mumbled, but he was used to her doing that.

"Tell me about some of it then. Maybe we can figure it out together." He let her go, cupping her face to wipe the tears from her face. She shook her head as best as she could with her face in his hands.

"Mephisto is acquiring a text for me. I think it's the key to all of this."

"Wait, you know about Mephisto?" His eyes were wide.

"Yeah...but we'll talk about that later."

"What's the title then?" Yukio was humoring her, but that wasn't going to last long. He thought this was just a normal teenage problem. She wished it was that simple.

" _Infernum Vitae by Lilith, Mother of Demons."_ She didn't bat an eyelash. This wasn't a laughing matter.

"Wait. He's getting her book for you? The Hellfire Life is one of the most sought after books for our collection in the study of demons, and you think it's going to help solve something so petty as a teenage love triangle?" Akira pushed him away, anger taking over her body.

"It's not petty, Yukio! He offered to help when he realized what I was looking into. I wouldn't have accepted if it was a simple teenage problem. Her book wasn't written until much later in demon lore. She waited until she had seen all of her direct children and grandchildren either fail or succeed before she wrote it all down."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Because I have spent the past few weeks using every spare minute I have to find an answer. What I feel around you and what I experience around Rin are two incredibly different yet exhilarating feelings, but when I'm around both of you, it's like they intensify tenfold."

"That doesn't tell me much, Akira." He folded his arms over his chest.

"I can't tell you anything more until I have that book. I'm going back to my dorm. I'll see you in the morning." She made quick work of grabbing her things.

"What about dinner and hanging on the rooftop?" She could tell he was pouting, even if it was only slightly. When she realized he was trying to understand, she felt bad. She was exhausted though. The night had done a one eighty, twice, and she felt lightheaded.

"Maybe another time, Kio. I need to sleep." He reached for her; she evaded his grasp pretending she didn't see the pain that flashed across his face. "We got distracted earlier. I'll try to explain more when I have actual answers." She took his hand, squeezed it, then let it drop to his side before she left the room to go back to her dorm to crawl into her bed.

===AH===

The next day Akira avoided everyone by running on her own and then hiding in the cram school library. She wondered around until she found a hidden space tucked so far out of the way no one would find her. Her necklace glowed yellow here and was comfortably warm against her skin. There was no shield and she felt at ease here. There were smaller windows than the rest of the library, but they were the perfect height for light to come through and illuminate the entire space. There were shorter shelves with glass doors in this room and as she looked, Akira realized that these were the rarest tombs the exorcists could have at their disposal. ' _But why are they here instead of the vatican?_ '

"Ah, I see you found my personal library," Mephisto said from behind her. She spun around and there he was, sitting at a table she hadn't noticed when she entered the room. "Only people that I think will use the information here properly can enter." She folded her arms over her chest. "I'm glad you finally wandered away from your usual study area. I wasn't going to tell you about this until you stumbled on it."

"And what is the point of not telling me about a resource?"

"I can't give you all the answers. You need to find some on your own. You are currently the only student who can enter this room. Use it wisely." He closed the books he was working with, gathered his papers, and banished the books back to their cabinets. "I hope you find what you are looking for." Then he was gone. Akira sighed before she started going through the shelves, reading the covers when she could, in order to find a starting point for this place.

It was several hours later and she felt contented to join her friends again. Mostly, she needed food, and she knew that someone was always up for grabbing a bite. She was heading to her dorm when she was stopped by Bon.

"Kira!' He smiled at her and she waited for him to get to why he was keeping her from food. His friends weren't with him she noticed, which was just the beginning of the strangeness. "Hey," he said quietly.

"Hi, Bon. What's up?" Her stomach was starting to hurt a little from lack of food. ' _I must be patient, I must be patient...'_

"Well, I know that you've been hanging out with the Okumura twins a lot lately, but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to hang out with me sometime." She raised an eyebrow as he turned red. "Like, a date." Her mouth fell open. "I mean, as friends. It can be a casual thing. Maybe." He stumbled over his words figuring she was going to reject him. She closed her mouth and tried to speak. Nothing would come out. She blinked a few times then tried again.

"As friends?" She wanted clarification on what exactly he was expecting.

"Yeah. I mean. Well," he scratched the back of his head. "I like you, but I don't think we'd ever be in a serious relationship. I would like to just take you out on a date. Like I said, it can be just as friends. Get ice cream or something." She nodded slowly as the words sank in.

"Ice cream as friends?" He hummed an affirmative. "Alright. I'll bite. When?"

"How about Wednesday after classes?" Akira thought about it for a moment, trying to mentally bring up her timetable for the week.

"That should work. If not, I'll text you?" she ventured.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's great! Thanks, Kira!" And then he took off toward his dorm. It was a few minutes later that Kamiki found her.

"There you are!" the taller girl cried. "We've been looking all over for you." She linked arms with her and started pulling her along to their dorm. "You need to deal with your side of the room. It's taking over my well kept section." Akira laughed.

"You want me to clean?"

"Duh. You can't let your room fall apart because you have a crazy busy schedule. Plus, it might help you out to have something brainless to do."

"Right..." Akira trailed off. "It can't hurt." She shrugged. "But food first." Kamiki agreed and afterwards, they worked on cleaning their room with Paku.

===AH===

When she met up with Bon a few days later in jeans, a black long sleeve shirt, and a cardigan, Akira wasn't really sure what to expect from this. He _said_ they would be going just as friends, but she wasn't sure she believed him fully. She was also hoping to be back on campus before her training session with Yukio, though she wasn't sure that would be possible.

"Hey," he greeted. "Ready?" She took in his nearly matching outfit of jeans and black t-shirt with a plaid button up thrown over it. As if this couldn't have gotten any stranger.

"I guess." She shrugged. They walked in silence, his sneakers dragging compared to her sure steps, until they were at the ice cream shop. Once they had ordered, a plain vanilla cone for her and a banana split from him, she asked him the one thing that had been bothering her since he asked her out. "You like me, don't you?" He choked on his bite of the cold concoction.

"No!" he said quickly. "Well, yes! But not like that!" His face scrunched up and she laughed at him. "I thought I made that clear the other day."

"Not really." She swiped her tongue over the dripping sweet. "You were a nervous mess that didn't make much sense."

"Sorry about that. I've never asked a girl to hang out before." She rolled her eyes at his sheepishness.

"It's fine. But what is this really about? We've hung out before." She watched him struggle to come with the words as he ate to keep from answering her. She was content to eat her ice cream. It was a rare treat since she'd started training.

"Okay," he started after nearly half his dessert was gone. "I need your help, and, as much as I love Koneko and Shima like brothers, they are useless with this stuff." She raised an eyebrow when he stopped and pursed his lips. "I really like Kamiki," he finally said. She bit into her cone to keep from laughing out right.

"I know," she said after she swallowed her bite..

"You know? How do you know?" He seemed to have forgotten about his banana split.

"Shima," she said simply, licking the seam of ice cream and cone to keep the ice cream from dripping onto her hand.

"Of course." They were quiet for a few minutes as she let him work out what he needed to say. He was on the last of his split as she threw the last bit of cone into her mouth. "So. Are you going to help me or not?" She started giggling.

"I already did." She got up, looking at her watch. "I need to get back to campus." She walked out of the shop. He came running after her a few minutes later.

"Wait, how did you help me? I didn't ask before!" She turned around, but kept walking backwards.

"Trust me. If you ask her out, she'll say y-Ah!" she cried as her heel caught some uneven pavement. Bon caught her around the waist to keep her upright. She fell against him instead with an "ompf." Once she righted herself she thanked him and took off, calling "Just ask her!" over her shoulder. ' _I hope no one saw that, especially Yukio. I don't need anymore boy related drama in my life,"_ she thought as she made her way back to her dorm for workout clothes.

===AH===

Over the next few days, Kamiki was frostier than usual. While Akira couldn't figure out why, she found that she didn't have time to worry about it. She was getting busier every day and it was cutting into her research, which was aggravating enough without adding Kamiki's moods to the mix. She was changing into something more comfortable to lounge about the library in when Paku came bursting through the door.

"Bon just asked Kamiki out and she said yes!" she cried, shutting the door behind her. Akira dropped her socks. "This is perfect! Now she'll stop being mad at you for going on a date with him." The other girl could not contain her excitement. Akira sat on the floor to put on her socks and shoes.

"Wait. That's why she was being so icy? She thought Bon and I were a _thing?_ " Paku nodded. "Ew, Iko. No."

"Then why were you guys so close the other day? We both saw you." Paku was lost. Akira could tell. ' _Well, shit...at least they kept it to themselves...I hope.'_

"He saved me from falling on my ass." She tied her laces and jumped up. "Now that I know what's going on, I'll see you later. I have some things to finish up for this week." She grinned as she picked up her overstuffed bag from her bed and ran off. She had some rare time to really go through Mephisto's library and she wasn't about to let it slip through her fingers.

===AH===

 _I'm just as conflicted as Akira about the twins, and I'm sorry! BUT! I got Kamiki and Bon together. That's just a side pairing and I won't be focused on them much. I'm just going to see how those two stubborn dolts work out XD_


	5. Ch 5: Mentor Returns

Disclaim.

===AH===

 _Chapter 5: The Mentor Returns_

Akira was beginning to feel like a cram school professor without the benefits. Mephisto had a ghost child problem at his amusement park and the exwires were to handle it. Yukio and her were supervising, the headmaster's request on her part, and she was scowling from her spot next to her best friend in the typical exorcist uniform. It was irritating, but she had her preferred outfit under it just in case her other skills were needed. But it was just a ghost child. She shouldn't need to be in her shorts and cropped top combo. Her hair was pulled into a severe bun as well and all the other students were surprised at her outfit. None of them knew until today that she was a full exorcist. It was peculiar to still be taking cram school classes after you ranked past _Meister_ , and she had two specialty courses plus one fun course. She'd been _trying_ to keep it under wraps, but today was as good a day as any, especially after last week with Kuro, to clue them in.

The group was now split into three teams. She was with Rin and Shiemi. Yukio would be bouncing between the other two groups; Bon and Kamiki were the unofficial team leaders there.

"Let's just get this over with" she growled as she stormed off in a direction the others weren't going. It wasn't until Shiemi was playing with the damned ghost child, which of course was on this side of the park, that she noticed that was something was off. While Rin was distracted by the boy's antics with Shiemi, she scanned their surroundings. She could just make out Mephisto sitting high enough in the sky that no one would normally notice him.

"Hey, Sissy!" Amaimon? Her eyes went wide as she slowly turned away from her headmaster's smirking face. "I'm bored and want to play!" He grinned at her for a split second before his expression went flat.

"Is this creep bothering you, Kira?" Rin. That's why the demon was acting weirder than usual. ' _Oh no! He's going to play with Rin, not me. This is bad! Abort, abort!'_ She stayed focused on the man in front of her.

"No, Rin. I'm good. Go-" Amaimon disappeared. She spun around until he reappeared behind Rin, stole Kurikara, and poofed again.

"Hey! Who do you think you are?!" Rin ran toward the other games when they spotted the demon perched on an awning. She made sure Shiemi didn't see what was going on before going after him.

"I don't know why father thinks so much of you," he mused. He unsheathed Kurikara and watched Rin's flames take over before putting it back. "Interesting." He repeated this several times before Akira finally stepped in. She prayed that the other girl would stay occupied with the ghost until the demon was taken care of as she shed her exorcist coat.

"Amaimon, stop this." She summoned her throwing knives from each hip. The blades caught the light, their multi-colored finish glittering. "I'll hurt you and you know it." Rin couldn't know about her unusual relationship with this demon.

"Fine, Sissy. You win," Amaimon pouted as he tossed Kurikara at her. He grinned, which was unsettling to see on his face right now, before he jumped from the awning, caught Rin by the shirt, and was gone before she could react.

"You bastard," she muttered. She was on her way to check on Shiemi when she saw them on the roller coaster. Rin's sword felt hot in her hands but she couldn't put it away like her own weapons. She knew Rin would need it at a moment's notice. She could hear laughter and was torn away from the two beings fighting. Then she saw a spot of red. ' _The bag! Perfect!'_ She rushed to get the sword put into the back sling. She looked back up at them as Rin took a hit to the leg when he lunged at his half-brother. He was getting his ass handed to him. His rage was taking over his body. Kurikara was getting hotter. Amaimon got a solid hit and Rin landed hard enough on the ground to leave a crater. Her stomach fell as the area was engulfed in those blue flames. Her back was nearly burning from his weapon. A blue shield layered over her body and she was startled when she realized that it was the same color as the stone in her necklace.' _The amulet...'_ She was so distracted by the implications of this piece of information that she missed Rin starting to overpower Amaimon.

Kiki!" she heard from behind her. _'Only one person calls me that...'_ "Get your head out of the clouds!"

"Shura!" her mentor was in front of her shedding her student disguise. "You're the weird kid that never talks?! You would do something like that. But-"

"Kiki, focus!" Shura Kirigakure summoned her own demon blade from her chest. "That's Amaimon."

"I know." She could still feel the shield, but her necklace wasn't searing her skin like when she'd been in Mephisto's office.

"You know?" She was angry. _'That's never good...'_ "Then why are you just standing there?!" ' _Avoid! Avoid!'_ her brain kept repeating like it was on high alert, which it kind of was.

"Later. We've got to get Rin to calm down." Her mentor nodded. Akira took off toward Amaimon. Shura followed. He looked bored with Rin's abilities at this point, but he also seemed to be injured. Rin saw her and stopped mid-punch. Then he took off back toward the games area. She followed his movements with her head. Shiemi! She was in the ball pit last she saw her, which was about to fall in on itself from a piece of debris.

"I don't understand, Sissy. He's not that strong." Amaimon floated over to her. "But I'm not playing with anyone but him today. Ta!" He was gone in the blink of an eye. Rin was no longer surrounded by flames. Kurikara had chilled. And Akira? She was colder than ice. She shivered before everything started to fall away.

When she came to, Akira was warm again. She could feel the stiff fabric of her exorcist frock over her body and hear way too many people talking at once. She groaned. The voices stopped. Someone shifted next to her, then she felt the softness of her familiar on her cheek.

"Hey, girl. I'm okay now," she whispered as she reached out to pet the loyal bird. Despite what could only have been hard ground under her, she felt content.

"She needs a doctor. Why aren't we taking her to the hospital?" Kamiki was worried. Akira could hear the desperate whine in her words.

"No," Yukio and Shura said in synch.

"Why? Even Rin was there when he got knocked out, and he's damn near indestructible." Bon was closer to her than Kamiki

"Awe, Bon. You like Rin," Akira tried to say, but it was too soft for most of them to hear. She coughed and tried speaking again. "Shura, help me up before these idiots do something they'll regret." Her mentor was by her side in a flash, first aiding her in sitting up, then to standing. She stretched her sore limbs before resting against the older girl. "Much better," she sighed before she realized her frock was backwards. "Shura, could you close the back?" she asked quietly. Everyone, except Yukio and Shura, was staring at her.

"Should you be doing that? People don't collapse for no reason, ya know." Shima was trying to playoff his concern. She chuckled.

"I'm fine. Let's get food. Rin, you wanna cook?" They made eye contact. He knew they couldn't talk about anything that happened. ' _Not yet anyways. Soon. We can talk soon.'_

"Sure. I have a new recipe I want to try out." He smiled and she was taken aback at how he could switch emotions. She pushed Shura away to start making her way back toward the academy only to be in the air a moment later bridal style.

"Not so fast, princess. You are _not_ walking all the way back to school." She started flailing.

"Bon, put me down!" He ignored her. She saw Shima trying not to explode. ' _He thinks this hysterical, the jerk!'_ "You! When I get down, you're dead, Renzo Shima! Dead I say!" Bon started whistling and fell in behind Yukio to a door they could use to get back to campus. "This is so unfair," Akira grumbled while her friends laughed. They all crowded into her room once at the school. Shura had to kick them out so the tiny girl could get changed. It was then that Akira noticed her side table drawer wasn't quite shut. There was a rectangular package and she picked it up quickly hoping it was what she thought it was. _Infernum Vitae_ sat in her hands, a note tucked in the cover.

 _Akira,_

 _We will meet in a few weeks time to compare the research you have already completed with what you take from this. I have read it a few times over my lifetime. I hope it helps you as much as it has me. Contact me when you have finished reading._

 _M. P._

The book. She would finally have her answer, and earlier than she thought she would. For now she would assure everyone she was fine. By the time she found them again, the group had dwindled to the twins and her mentor. They were in one of the many courtyards and fighting. She had to stop them.

==AH==

She didn't know where else to go but home. Akira's nerves were shot after today. She could not handle it anymore. This year should have been all about school and having the high school experience. Could she just reset the year?

"Where are you going?" Yukio stopped her from going through a door.

"Home. I'll be back in a little while."

"But..." She turned around when he trailed off. He was running his hands through his hair.

"What, Kio? It's clear I can't stay here right now." She felt so torn, but she couldn't keep crying in front of him. They always supported each other, but being so _weak_ around him didn't do either of them any good.

"And why is that? Rin needs you." She could tell he was struggling with this concept.

"Does he? He has plenty of friends to surround him. He doesn't need me here right now. I don't even know what to tell him."

"You're wrong, Ki! Even if he doesn't need you here, he _wants_ you to stay with us. I wish that..." He sighed this time. "I wish he wanted me around the way he does you. It's like you guys are the best of friends now." He looked away from her. There was that pain again. Why couldn't they just be the happy friends they were before coming to True Cross?

"Kio..." She closed the door. "He loves you. You're his brother and the one person that, even when you're pissed as hell at him, is there every time he needs you. Don't think that changes because he has other people in his life willing to do the same." She tucked into him, forcing him to face her. "He'll never stop needing you, Kio."

"What about _you_? I couldn't even stand up for him against Shura while you readily stood between them. How am I supposed to protect you when you put yourself in the line of fire like that? I know you're one of the best exorcists we have right now, but I worry about you anyways. And if I can't protect him and I can't protect you, then ho-" She brushed her lips over his. It only lasted a second, but it effectively stopped him from self-deprecating further.

"Yukio Okumura, I'm gonna tell you how you can do all of that and more. You are the bravest, strongest, most loyal person I know. At one point, you were willing to kill Rin to protect people. But to watch someone else try to do just that made you realize that you care about him more than you do the rest of the world. You were in shock. It's _not_ your fault you couldn't react. You know the truth of the matter now, and you aren't going to let that stop you ever again." She buried her head into his chest. "And I love you for it," she said softly, almost hoping he didn't hear her. When he stiffened, she knew he heard her. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Really, Ki?" She nodded no longer trusting her voice. He sounded so hopeful. "Good, because I love you too."

"I know," she said after a moment. She met his gaze. "I knew weeks ago. I knew that you loved me, and that I loved you, but I wasn't ready to tell you." Tears were falling down her face, but she couldn't stop them.

"Why not? We can be together. I don't see the problem." He was smiling so brightly. And he was wiping the tears away. It made her cry harder, though it wasn't hysterical sobbing.

"No we can't." Her voice was small. His face fell as confusion set in.

"Why not?" he repeated. "If we love each other, then we can be together." She shook her head.

"I told you that this wasn't simple. There are bigger things at play right now, and I can't risk it."

"Can't risk what? You told me two weeks ago that you would tell me when you have answers. I know you've been spending even more time in the library than before. What's going on?" She bit her lip. She had to tell him. She couldn't though. Not yet.

"Give me a couple of days. Mephisto, who revealed to me that he was a demon several weeks ago now, said he had the book." She finally explained, however simply. "Can you give me that time?" He sighed again.

"Do I have a choice?" His voice was strained. She could tell he was hurting more now than ever.

"I told you I was a terrible friend." She kissed his cheek and slipped out of his arms before rushing to a door so she could cry in her room. She couldn't go home now. She had to get herself together. She ignored her roommates' questions as she hid under her covers.

===AH===

"Hey, kid." Shura. Of course. "You busy?" She shifted on her feet. She wasn't usually a nervous person. Akira looked up at her, eyebrow raised, then lifted her book. "You reading does _not_ mean you're busy."

"I beg to differ." Akira went back to her page. She wanted to finish her third read through for this book. Normal classes end next week and the test, as well as a paper, were part of her final for her literature class. Shura plucked the book from her hands.

"Really, Ki? _Catcher in the Rye?_ You couldn't be reading some trashy romance novel." Shura pouted. "That would have at least been interesting." Akira huffed, red creeping up her neck.

"I need to finish reading that book for class. It's going to be on my final and I want to be prepared!"

"Pfft. Bet you already finished all the assignments _and_ read it more times than your classmates. You don't need to read it _again._ " She tossed the book over her shoulder without looking.

"Ow!" came a cry of outrage. Akira stood. Her roommate was about to flip out on Shura, and she could not let that happen. "Who do you think you are? Throwing books at innocent people!"

"Izzy, she didn't mean to hit you." The purple haired girl's eye twitched. She usually preferred Kamiki for some reason.

"Even still! She shouldn't be throwing books, especially as a teacher." Izumo handed the book back to Akira." I'll see you later, Kira," she said lowly not waiting for a response before taking off across campus.

"Come on. I need help with Rin." Shura tilted her head in the general direction of the cram school. Akira's face hardened.

"No you don't. You are perfectly capable of handling him." Her mentor had been working with Rin for about a month now. She settled back into reading.

"That's not why I need your help." She paused. "I can't get through to him."

"Then take his sword away again. That worked out so well last time, Shura." She was not happy with her former mentor. They had barely spoken since the fight. "You were prepared to kill him. That's not right, and you know it." Shura grabbed her arm and started pulling her to the closest door. Since she wasn't even standing, Akira struggled, but only so she could grab her bag. "Fine, fine. I'll come with you, but I need my stuff." Shura rounded on her. The younger girl nearly fell over.

"Great. Because I have a lot to talk to you about, and I can't do it here." Akira became instantly suspicious of what was going on. She knew that if she waited though that Shura would tell her. Knowing to be patient with her mentor, however, did not making her any less wary.

"If we're going to the training room, I know a quicker way."

"Actually, we're going to my rooms." Akira blinked after the fiery woman.

"What happened to dealing with Rin?" Shura opened a door.

"That's later. We need to catch up." She said nothing further. Shura's rooms were startling. Akira had been expecting something better than a dorm. The older girl was teaching after all. The walls were blank and white. It had clearly been stripped of the extra furniture as the girl would be on her own. There was a couch opposite of her bed, which she'd put on the floor and surrounded with more pillows than a person could possibly need.

"I would go crazy in this room," Akira commented after taking it in. "It's too bare." Shura shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I'm only going to be sleeping here. The couch," which she fell onto," is to change things up." Akira sat on the other side with her legs tucked underneath her body. "But my room is not up for discussion. What the hell did I miss this past year? I mean, I predicted you and Yukio getting together, but Rin being the Son of Satan? What is that?" She started rambling. Akira shifted as she tried to figure out which point to start with. There were plenty of topics she wanted to avoid right now.

"Um...Yukio and I aren't dating, sis." ' _There. That's safe.'_ The older girl fell over.

"What? But you guys...And I saw...What the hell, Kiki?" She couldn't seem to put a full thought together. "Explain. Now. As your best friend-"

"That would be Yukio," Akira cut off. Shura's eyes narrowed. "What? You know that!" Shura rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but I've seen you guys around campus. He steals kisses when he thinks no one is around." She crossed her arms. "There's no way something isn't going on." She didn't stop talking, but Akira stopped listening and bit her lip, debating whether or not it was a good idea to tell her about the triad. Shura had been like a big sister to her, and she loved the girl dearly, but could she trust her with this? ' _There's only one way to find out.'_

"If you would shut up for longer than ten seconds, I'd fill you in." Shura pouted, but remained quite. "First of all, I didn't know that Rin was Satan's son until I was here. Secondly, I've been dealing with a lot since..." and so she went on, telling Shura about the strange feelings she had after starting at the cram school, her history with demons, the research she'd been doing, and Mephisto helping her.

"Wait, you're a demon baby?" Shura interrupted. At Akira's glare, she shrunk further into the couch. "Sorry. I'll let you finish. Sheesh." Shura sat still then while she explained about the triad, but gave as little detail as she could about her actual relationship with each boy. "Ooh, you got your first kiss," Shura commented much to her chagrin.

"That's what you got out of that? Did you even hear anything else I said?" She fiddled with her amulet, which she hadn't been home to talk to her grandmother about yet.

"Duh, and yes. Something about a triad." Akira let out a puff of air. "Relax, Kiki. I'm kidding!" The younger girl crossed her arms over her chest. "But, in all seriousness, give me details." Akira looked away from her. "Come on! You said you've kissed both. Who do you prefer? Have you done more than kiss? As your best sister, I demand you tell me! I haven't been around and I missed all this stuff." Shura's lip was jutted out. "I have to make it up to you. I won't tell anyone, even the vatican, about any of this. I swear." Her pouting got worse which usually got Akira to give in, as she often did with the older girl. "I know there's major tension. I _have_ been in the cram school classes." Akira shifted uncomfortably before she took a deep calming breath. ' _This is Shura. It'll be fine.'_ kept repeating in her mind.

"First of all, you're the only person even close to being my sister, so of course you're the best. Second, I haven't had the chance to do much with either," she finally said. Her face felt hot, but it was wistful. "Being with Kio feels like coming home. There's a contentment, but I can't get enough of him. We try to keep our affections to a minimum because of Rin. He understands I've known his twin longer, so he's trying not to be an ass about things. Kio...well...he's super jealous of my budding relationship with his older brother, but I can't help that. We try not to be attached at the hip around others, but that's kind of how it's been for a long time. It's a hard adjustment." She started playing with a loose thread on Shura's couch. "As for Rin, I'd _like_ to get more kisses, or something. However, his flames flare up really badly, and we don't know what causes it, so we don't really touch or anything around others. That's one of the other reasons I started doing my research. It's like being in a warm cocoon; they don't hurt. I wanted to know why."

"You're being oddly smart about this. Why are you so logical? Why can't you just go with it?" Akira's face hardened at the obnoxious woman for the second time that day. "I would have just done what I was doing, no research."

"Because I don't have quite human blood. I was concerned." Akira scowled.

"Chill, kid. I was just complimenting you." Shura pushed her shoulder. She relaxed. She'd forgotten that her mentor didn't say things in a tradition way sometimes. "Now. I need some serious help. You're the only person that I can trust for it." Shura said after some time.

"No." The older girl pouted.

"But it'll be fun!"

"Last time you told me something was going to be fun, we got stranded in the Amazon because you lost your key!" That was the strangest sort of mission they'd ever been on together. It was supposed to be Akira shadowing Shura and helping if need be, but Shura thought it would be a great exercise. There wasn't really shadowing so much as fighting the demons while Shura encouraged her. "I fell out of a tree!" she exclaimed when Shura hadn't responded to the previous point.

"It was a bush! You didn't get hurt!"

"It was too big to be a bush," Akira grumbled. She felt a headache coming on. She loved Shura, but she was such a pain in the ass sometimes.

"But we were fine." Shura beamed at her adopted sister. "And anyways, this is about training Rin." Akira let out an 'oh' in understanding. "Having you around will be perfect. I can better critique his sword skills and you'll get to see his flames all the time. Win-win."

"Why do his flames matter to me?"

"Because you get caught up watching him." Akira flushed again. "So that's my real reason for getting you to train with him. I need you to be the best my little sis can be." She couldn't have gotten rid of Shura's smile even if she tried.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it." She stood and stretched; her back cracked and she winced."I have to finish packing though. See you at three?"

"Crap, that's today!" Shura flew off her couch and started buzzing around, muttering about how stupid she was to forget about going to Kyoto.

"No. I'm shipping some stuff home." Akira started laughing as Shura stopped mid-buzz. "I realized I don't need nearly everything I brought. And with classes ending soon, it's a perfect time to go visit my family. You should come back home with me. Mum misses you."

"Yeah, okay." Shura shrugged like she didn't care, but Akira knew that the older girl loved spending time with her family. Grandmama loved doting on both of them. It was like they were blood sisters.

"Good. I'll see you at three then?" she repeated.

"What for?" Akira took a slow breath.

"I'm going to be in the training room around then. Figured you could bring Rin."

==AH==

"Hey, Paku, would you like this dress?" Paku was reading manga on her bed. Akira was going through all of her clothing. Everything she owned, other than her uniform shirts, skirts, and ties, was sitting on her bed. She held up a plain white dress made of cotton. She loved the edging, but not the skirt. It didn't allow her to move freely.

"That's a really pretty dress, Kira. Are you sure you don't want it?" The smaller girl raised an eyebrow. Paku wasn't much bigger than her. She was just a little taller, which annoyed Akira. She wished she could be that tall, but being tiny did have it's perks. ' _Like having Kio pick me up with ease,'_ she thought before shaking her head. She really needed to focus on this. She only had two more hours before she had to meet back up with Shura.

"I don't speak just to hear myself talk, Iko. We're about the same size, so this should fit you really well." Her friend blushed. "Izzy, I think I've got some shirts you might like in this pile." Her other roommate looked at her over her shoulder from her desk.

"What makes you think I'd want your toss offs? You have no taste in clothing and I would likely never wear anything you owned." Akira shrugged. She'd gotten used to Kamiki's general attitude.

"If you change your mind, let me know. I'm not tossing anything out until tomorrow." She started pulling socks, under garments, and her track suits out of the pile to go back into her storage space. Anything with holes or that was so worn it looked almost ratty ended up right in the trash. "I realized that I don't need all of this. Even when I'm relaxing, which I doubt will be often, I only need like two pairs of jeans. I think I have a dozen pairs that I haven't worn since I got here!" she exclaimed.

"Why did you bring so much clothing with you anyways?" Kamiki had given up trying to get any work done.

"I didn't know if I was going to be going home, so I just sort of packed everything that fit. The rest went to the local shelter."

"That's really nice of you, Kira." Paku interjected as she put her manga aside. "I'd like to try that dress on, if you don't mind."

"Of course!" She threw it toward Paku and turned back to her pile. "I have a few more dresses like that if you'd like. It's too tight around my legs. I like flowy skirts much better."

"So you are a girl. I never would hav- Oh, Paku!" Kamiki cried. "You look so pretty!" Akira looked over her shoulder and nodded to herself.

"I thought she would." She grabbed three other dresses that were similarly cut from the mountain on top of her bed. "These should fit you as well." She then spotted a pair of jeans that she barely wore because they were just a little too long for her legs. "Izzy, these might fit you. They're too long for me."

"That's not hard to do, short-stack."

"Take that back or you'll get the worst tall nickname I can think of!"

"But it's true! You're like half my height!"

"And twice the fighter!" Akira said back. She wasn't actually mad, but it was really easy to rile the purple haired girl up.

"How dare you!"

"Just try the jeans on, Iz." Akira started putting more clothing away. "I really don't know how I fit all this in here."

"You didn't," Kamiki said as she pulled the jeans over her hips. "Most of the stuff was never put in drawers or the closet."

"I guess you're right. All the better to get rid of tons of it!" Akira smiled at her friend. "Those look great, by the way. I think I have another pair like them. My aunt didn't realize they weren't my size. Apparently when my dad told her to stick to things made for midgets, she thought he was joking." She rolled her eyes as the girls laughed. The mountain was slowly shrinking. Skirts and dresses that she wore once in awhile sat at one end. She only liked two of the dresses and three of the skirts, so she put those away. The rest she pushed off the bed into a box to get rid of. That was the easy part since there wasn't that many of them in the first place.

"You should wear that color more, Kira," Kamiki said suddenly.

"What color?"

"That cream thing there." She pointed to a top that Akira hadn't worn since the celebration dinner her parents had for her and Yukio after they got their second _Meister._ She pulled it from the pile and stared at it before trying it on. The material was still as soft as the day she'd bought it. It fit her better than it had then. "If you have more things like that, you should keep them. You don't want to get rid off _all_ the nice clothing in your closet. You never know when you'll need it."

"I guess you're right." Akira bit her lip. "Thanks, Izzy." She switched back to her plain t-shirt. "Feel free to go through that box and take what you like, girls." Shirts came out of the pile. If it wasn't for field work, or something she could wear under her uniform, she set it aside to go through later. And her main goal was just to get what she used the most put away. She sighed and looked

at the clock on her desk. _1:45_. This was going to take her longer than she thought.

==AH==

Shura's drunken giggles were echoing through the room. Akira was smirking as Rin lost, yet again, because of the distraction.

"Come on, Rin. Afraid to hurt me?" She teased. They weren't using weapons today. Shura wanted to get him focused during combat.

"No," he growled. "I just-" he paused. She jumped high when he went to swing his leg around trying to knock her off her feet. "You're so much faster than me."

"So catch up to her, half-breed." Shura was egging him on. _'No helpful.'_ "We've already spent two hours teaching you different moves, and you haven't beat her. You can barely land a hit. You can do better."

"Shura, stop." He lunged again. Akira used his shoulders to push off and over him, landing gracefully and poised ready to strike.

"You've improved, sis." She glared at Shura.

"And you're more aware while drinking." The older girl shrugged.

"Can we take a break now? I'm obviously not beating Kira today." Rin fell onto his back. "If I keep going, I'll die."

"Not as the Son of Satan, you won't. You heal faster than any human." Shura finished her beer.  
"But we can stop." Akira relaxed her stance and grabbed her water bottle. The trainer got up and disappeared.

"So...are we going to talk about what happened at the park?" he started. She groaned. She was looking forward to this as much as getting bit by a viper. He had waited awhile for answers though, so she figured she owed him.

"What do you want to talk about?" She sat down on the edge of the practice mat. He sat up.

"How do you know Amaimon?" _'At least he's getting right to the point.'_

"He's a demon king that likes to play with people he thinks are strong." She focused on a spot next to him. She couldn't look at him without telling him the full truth.

"Then why does he call you 'Sissy'?" ' _Damn it...'_ She worried her bottom lip.

"Because it annoys the hell out of me." This was true, though Amaimon didn't know this bit of information. "I've dealt with him a few times," she lied.

"Okay..." Rin obviously didn't believe her. "What about that blue shield thing? What was that?" ' _Shit...'_

"I'm not really sure. My best guess is it's from the amulet my Gram sent me. She said it would protect me." Also true. Mostly. So far she didn't really have to lie to him. Shura came back with a huge bag. Rin ignored her presence.

"And what about you telling Yukio that you love him?" Her head snapped up, eyes wide. He wasn't looking at her. He was fidgeting with the end of his tail. He seemed resigned. "I heard you, ya know. I was coming to check on you since you told me you'd be right back, and I heard him say that he loved you too." When she said nothing he got angry. She could see the shift. "Why are you stringing me along, Kira? What's the point? Do you want to hurt me or something?"

"No! Damn it, Rin, no!"

"Then why didn't you just _tell_ me that you two were dating? It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble." She scurried over to him, not even bothering to get up fully. She made him look at her.

"Yukio and I are NOT dating, Rin." He looked so confused. "I'm going to assume that you left after hearing Kio tell me that he loves me." Rin nodded. "Then you missed me telling him that we couldn't be together. That's why he barely talked to me after that. We sorted everything out, mostly because we've been going on more missions lately."

"You left that out earlier, Kiki!" Shura piped up. "You didn't tell me that you loved him."

"Sis, I love you too, but butt out. You don't know what's going on."

"But I know something they don't!" Akira glared at the drunken girl again. "I know, I know," she started singing.

"Please ignore my sister," grumbled Akira.

"Are you guys really sisters? Because I didn't think you had any siblings." She shook her head. "Good. At least I don't have to worry about you turning out like her." She lunged at him.

"You jerk!" He rolled out of her reach and they started laughing. ' _At least Shura is a good distraction...'_

"It's true though!" he cried as she came after him again. He caught her wrists and rolled them over so they were both laying on their sides. "I'm going to tickle you if you don't stop that." She tried to stop laughing and was unsuccessful. "I don't even need to tickle you to get you to laugh."

"Hush." She smiled at him, leaned toward him, and kissed him softly before she got up and left him with Shura.

===AH===

Akira was at her witsend. She'd barely been able to sleep between studying and missions. She felt dead on her feet returning from another mission. It was the fourth in less than three full days. The other ones had been small compared to this last one, which she was with Yukio and her cram school classmates for. She was at the twin's dorm in order to get some food before she went to bed. It was already passed one in the morning and Rin was asleep. She envied him.

"I can't find any left overs," Yukio called from the kitchen. She had collapsed into a dining room chair. She didn't respond as her thoughts were lost in what school work she needed to finish for next week. The call for this mission had come after her last class for the day, for which she was thankful. "Ki?" Yukio's voice sounded muffled to her ears. Moving was difficult. "Kira?" His hand came to her shoulder, gently shaking her. She blinked.

"Sleepy..." she mumbled. He chuckled before carefully picking her up. She hummed in contentment when her body met something soft, which she figured was the couch in the common room. He stood up. She reached for him. "Stay..." He brushed some hair from her face.

"Okay, but you need a blanket." She drifted off, completely exhausted, before he got back.

===AH===

Akira woke up the next morning to a sun that hadn't yet risen, if the grey coming through the window was any indication. She didn't understand why she was so warm, but as she shifted, she came in contact with something solid. She jerked upright, surprised that Yukio was laying next to her. He was on his side with his right arm tucked under his head. The corners of her mouth twitched upward at how innocent he looked. When she went to get up, Yukio's voice stopped her.

"Ki, stop moving." She didn't realize he was awake. As the details came back to her, her face brightened.

"You stayed," she said quietly. He rolled onto his back, put his arms over his stomach, and met her gaze.

"You were too cute to deny," he mumbled. She felt heat rush to her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I kept you from your bed," she whispered since it was early and Rin was likely still asleep.

"I'm not." He looked away from her. "In fact, I slept better last night than I have in quite some time." Her face became a deeper shade of red, which he smiled at when his eyes shifted back to her. "And for once, I want to stay in bed, especially since it's Saturday." He opened his right arm from his torso in a silent invitation for her to lay back down with him. She pursed her lips, contemplating if this was the best idea, before she complied, resting her head on his chest. She adjusted the blanket and they eventually fell back asleep.

==AH==

The next time she awoke, Rin was standing in the hall having just screamed in surprise. He was shirtless, still in pajama bottoms, and apparently not pleased. She felt Yukio stir.

"What the hell, Yukio?!" ' _Yup, not happy.'_ "You said you guys weren't dating." He was glaring at his brother as if there weren't equal blame to be had here. The taller of the two exorcists sighed.

"We aren't dating, Rin," Akira answered before Yukio could say anything. She sat up, stretching her arms over her head in the process.

"Then why-"

"It's none of your business. You and I aren't dating either, demon-boy." She stuck her tongue out at him. He was dejected even though she was trying to tease him.

"Fine," he grumbled. He picked up the clothing he'd dropped and left the two alone. Yukio then sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the couch. She leaned against his back, chin resting on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Kio?" she asked after several minutes of tense silence. He seemed upset, but she couldn't figure out why. They were fine a few hours ago. ' _Perfect, actually...'_ She felt him puff up and then release the air.

"Am I still supposed to let you figure things out? Because I feel like you're playing with me, Ki, and I don't like it." He turned slightly. She sat back and punched his shoulder.

"Don't be a jerk. You know me well enough to know I hate shit like that." She wrapped herself back around him. He could have shrugged her off, but he was completely still. "I'm not playing you, Yukio," she whispered against the back of his neck.

"Then what are you doing? I've seen the look on your face when Shiemi and Rin are together. It's the same way I feel when I see you with my brother, or Shima, or even Bon." When he started playing with her fingers, his gaze moving to them instead. "I can't tell you all the reasons I'm so jealous of them, but I can tell you that I want to be with you." He let her hands fall into his lap, running his own over his face. She grinned into his shoulder. "I just want you to give us a chance."

"What if..." She started playing with the hem of his shirt out of nervousness. "What if I want to give you both a chance?" she murmured. He shot off the couch and spun on her as he put distance between them. Before he could say a word, she too was off the sofa, but she had to jump over the coffee table to get her hand over his mouth. "Let me explain?" He nodded once and she removed her hand from his mouth, moving it to cup his jaw. She wasn't going to really _explain_ so much as give him some more pieces to this puzzle. "What if it's not my choice? What if the three of us are supposed to be together?" She waited as he put what little she said together. He took several calming breaths.

"A triad?" he finally asked. "Really?" She nodded slowly. "How are we-" he stopped as he realized that's not quite what he wanted to ask. "How would that work? We'd have to be connected somehow." She nodded again. She was waiting for anger, but the more time that passed in silence, the more she thought it wasn't going to come. "I didn't inherit Satan's power."

"I can tell you with certainty that you did. I wouldn't have had such similar reactions to both of you otherwise." He scratched his head.

"But triads are always the same species."

"As far as I know, yes," she said.

"You aren't a half-demon," he stated.

"Nope." Yukio fell into a chair. She folded herself back onto the couch. "Remember that my great-grandmother was a demon." She watched as he tried to put together what little she told him plus the other information she'd given him over the past few weeks. This was how Rin, who looked far less surly, found them.

"You guys want some breakfast?" he asked as he continued to run a towel over his hair. He had apparently gotten over her little brush off. Yukio shook his head, got up, and left the room. She frowned after him before looking back at Rin.

"That would be great, Rin." She forced herself to smile and pushed himself out of her seat. "Want some help?" she asked shyly, taking his hand and pulling him along. Her grandmother had taught her some basics around the kitchen, though she rarely got to use them.

"Sure!" She was going to keep him from asking too many questions.

===AH===

 _I didn't think I would end up having Akira tell Yukio about loving him until after she told the twins about the triad. Apparently she has a mind of her own. And then telling Yukio some things without Rin knowing. This is going to be fun! Maybe... ~Tori_


	6. Ch 6: And Away We Go!

18

Disclaimer.

 _Chapter 6: And Away We Go!_

Akira was relaxing in one of the comfy chairs of her study area reading through some ancient article no one seemed to have touched in years, which was likely true since it was out of the Chairman's library. She was using her hat to keep the sun coming into the space out of her face in some rare down time. This was the last week of school. The freshmen cram students were leaving for Kyoto in a few days, which she was kind of excited for. After everything that had happened this semester she needed a break. She'd just about finished reading the scroll when Shima, Bon, and Konekomaru found her.

"Miss. Himura?" She kept her eye from twitching. She'd told them all to call her Kira. Konekomaru was the only one that had trouble with that. She looked up at them, eyebrow raised. "Have you heard the rumors that were going around last week?"

"I have. They are just that: rumors. I have more important things to worry about than jealous girls." She went back to her page. "He and I have been friends for years now. I'm used to it."

"But some of them are terrible! They're calling you a s-" Shima clamp his hand over Koneko's mouth.

"It doesn't matter what they are calling her. What matters is stopping the rumors!" Shima proclaimed. Akira sighed, but didn't look at them.

"Shima, I don't care. If they aren't a friend, family member, or fellow exorcist, then what they have to say means absolutely nothing to me. They aren't important in my world. Don't make what they are saying matter by getting offended for me." Bon seemed to understand where she was coming from even without saying anything. Shima and Konekomaru were confused.

"Ki doesn't care because she saves their lives from demons and doesn't expect anything in return," Yukio stated from behind the other boys. Shima jumped. "She's an exorcist to keep people safe and they will never know. She figures that they don't know her at all, so if they won't try, they can-er...fly a kite." Akira giggled as Yukio paraphrased what she'd told him a couple of years ago. She had cried before that, but when she realized how cruel kids could be to one another, she decided that explaining things was not worth it. She preferred to let the untruthful things fall away by not acknowledging them.

"Hey, Kio. Ready to get your ass kicked?" She made no move to get up though. The other boys looked like they felt out of place.

"You've been spending too much time with Rin." She shrugged and went back to her scroll. "Since she doesn't want to get up just yet, and you boys are still here, I assume you need something else." Akira smiled softly at the way Yukio was trying to get them to leave. It wouldn't work, she knew, but it made her happy all the same.

"We just want to make sure she isn't really pregnant or anything." Bon's hand met his forehead. Konekomaru had no tact.

"I'm what?" Akira shrieked. "Is that really what they're saying about me?" She couldn't help the twitch of her eye this time. "Unless my name is now Mary, and I'm engaged to Joseph, there's no way I could be pregnant." She got up from the soft leather, mindful of the old page she'd been reading.

"Ki, calm down." Yukio blocked her from leaving the library.

"I can't believe people think I could be pregnant. Me? Of all the atrocious fu-"

"Kira!" Yukio was astonished. Akira wasn't one to use that word. ' _Maybe I have been spending too much time with the rebel...'_ She sat down at one of the tables, head falling into her hands. She'd thought things were bad in middle school. ' _Why do people think it's okay to say such terrible things about others?'_ Reading usually focused her enough to calm down, so she went back to the document. "As I was saying," Yukio started while glaring at the smallest boy. "You may have noticed that Ki has been spending a lot of time with both Rin and myself. In fact, it's almost equal, if you leave missions out of it. People are speculating since they can't figure out what's going on. My brother and I are fully aware of our situation." He paused and took off his glasses to clean them with the edge of his shirt. "The three of us are friends, but Rin and I both like Kira. She choosing not to pick one of us over the other." He checked the lenses before putting his glasses back in place, his expression neutral.

"Doesn't that mean she doesn't like either of you then?" Bon asked from his space leaning against some shelves. Akira had thought he'd gone mute or something. ' _Apparently not._ '

"Actually, Bon Bon." The boy let out a low growl at the nickname. She beamed at him knowing how much it bothered him. "It's because I like both of them. I'd rather keep my friendships, thank you."

"But I saw you with Rin last night!" Shima exclaimed. "He was walking you back to your dorm and both of you were acting all couply." He made a face at the last word. Yukio stayed silent. He was still having a hard time not being jealous of her relationship with Rin. "I even saw him kiss you!" Yukio's face hardened, his sharp eyes on her. His stare didn't bother her. She'd done nothing wrong.

"On the cheek, yes." Yukio relaxed. "I'm affectionate with both of them. I've set limits for a reason. Hugs, kisses on the cheek or forehead, maybe hand holding, those are on the acceptable list." ' _At least in public.'_ She stood and stretched. It was time to hit the gym. "Now, if you boys will excuse us, Kio and I have practice with Shura." Yukio grabbed her bag and she put the scroll away on their way out of the library, though he didn't seem to think anything of the room. It made her curious, but she choose not to dwell on it. Once they were inside the training room, he pulled her to him.

"You've gotten better at lying," he whispered as he rested his forehead against hers.

"I was speaking more truth than lies," She sing-songed as she pulled away from him. "Like we really are training with Shura. We're getting slow in our hand to hand combat." Slow for them was still incredibly fast, but it wasn't good enough for her and the jibe would keep him focused. "Plus, you and I have a score to settle." He tugged on her hand. She fell back against his body.

"I can't have one kiss before we start? You're killing me, Ki." He was pouting slightly and she couldn't help finding it adorable. She was just about to cave when Shura came out of the locker room. She jumped away from him, beet red.

"Come on, kiddos." Shura didn't look fazed. "I want two solid hours out of you. I'm going to do my warm up. I suggest you do the same."

==AH==

The three of them were walking back to the twins' dorm after their session enjoying the warm weather even though they were exhausted when they heard shouting. A group of kids were giving Rin a hard time. The Kyoto boys were behind him, ready to intervene if need be. Rin's hands were in tight fists at his sides.

"Oh, look! I see her now," one of the boys said. Akira stopped in her tracks not far from her friends.

"But she's with your brother! She's always with Yukio," a girl said. It was Cho. Shura pushed her forward, her intention clear: they had to make sure Rin didn't flame up.

"She only hangs out with you when she can't be with him, you know," another boy said. That was Sora. What was going on? They had all gotten along really well over the semester. Rin lunged at her soon to be ex-classmate only to be held back by Bon and Shima. The group started laughing at him. Her anger flared. Sora and Cho knew she and Yukio were strong exorcists. Why would they mess with Rin? None of them were expecting her to do anything but sit back and watch, even her friends. She was not usually an _incredibly_ violent person. Not without cause anyways.

"I'll have you know that I'm friends with _both_ brothers. You, Sora, of all people should know that. You, too, Cho. How dare you attack Rin!" The other two were still laughing softly as Sora had fallen silent. She threw her hat at Shura and chirped. Yua didn't stay in her hair when she wore the headpiece. Her familiar landed next to her about the size of a small dog.

"Guys, step back," Yukio suggested as he watched Yua continue to grow. The boys did as they were told, but couldn't take their eyes off of the large red bird at their friend's side.

"A girl's going to save them!" the nameless boy cried.

"She's obviously more than friends with them." Sora spoke up, making eye contact with her. What was he playing at? Yua was not new to him. She didn't scare him anymore obviously. ' _She should, idiot.'_ When her fist made contact with Sora's jaw, she felt it give. The sound was awful. He staggered backwards. The nameless boy screamed like he was the one that got hit and backed up until he was against a tree.

"You're an asshole. You will all leave my friends alone. I'll send Yua after you if I have to!" She felt her pendant heat against her skin.

"She doesn't scare me." Cho flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. The demon was now almost as large as Akira. She rounded on the girl. She felt a shift in her eyes, but it was over so fast she thought she imagined it. Then Cho was backing away from her and she knew it wasn't in her head. Sora was holding his jaw and following Cho. The nameless boy gulped and took off running. "We're sorry, Akira. We'll just-" Cho didn't bother finishing her thought before she followed the boy, dragging Sora with her.

"I expect to see you in the training room, Watanabe!" she called at their retreating backs as she pet Yua until the bird was small enough to perch on her shoulder.

"That was amazing!" Rin exclaimed as he picked her up and spun them around. Yua flapped her wings and cried out, annoyed at being dislodged from her mistress. Akira laughed as some of her hair fell out of it's loose bun. When he put her down, it fell into her face. He thought nothing of pushing the strands behind her ears. Yukio came closer and her smile widened.

"Wonderful as always, Ki." He took her hand to squeeze it, something they did with each other as a show of support, and she felt like she was flying. She looked down to see her feet were barely on the ground. To anyone looking at them, it would look like she was on her toes. She let go of his hand, which caused hurt to flash across his features as she fell into Rin.

"We need to go," she whispered. She looked over at the remaining group. Everyone but Shura was staring openly at them. Her mentor had a calculating look in her eye. That was never a good thing. "Now." She took off running the rest of the way to the boys' dorm. She didn't stop until she was in their room. Collapsing onto the floor and gasping for air, she rolled onto her back and tried to hold back tears. That damn book was right. Strange things would happen with all three of them in contact. She'd been avoiding hanging out with both of them since she read about it a few weeks ago. Rin burst in first.

"What the hell was that, Ki?" She stayed silent on the floor. She hadn't caught her breath enough to talk yet.

"Kira, tell us what that was." Yukio and Shura were standing in the doorway. The fiery woman had Akira's bag on her shoulder and her hat in her hand. "What happened back there? Is this what you've been keeping from me?" She sighed and sat up. This was going to be a long night.

"You guys should get comfortable." Shura sat next to Akira. "No, Shura. I need to talk to them on my own."

"Awe, but this will be so much fun." She was pouting. The younger girl kept her resolve.

"I'm not going to cave. Not with this. Don't even try that with me right now." Shura groaned and left Akira's stuff on the ground as she stood.

"You owe me!" she called over her shoulder before slamming the door. Akira tried to calm her nerves as she waited for them to settle. Yukio sat at his desk. Rin went to his bed. Yua came in through the window. Akira pet her soft feathers. That grounded her enough to start.

"Near the beginning of the semester, I had this reaction, for lack of a better term. It wasn't bad, but it felt similar to the nerves of liking someone. The only time I remember feeling something like this was about two years ago with Kio." She felt her face starting to heat up, but she couldn't stop. She had to push through. It was time they knew what had been going on, even though Yukio knew more than Rin. She shut down slightly and went into teacher mode, "However, this was much stronger. That was the first day I was supposed to observe your class, Kio. The events that followed made me wonder what was going on. I've spent every minute I could spare in the cram school library for this reason. Finally, in the _European Demonology Chronicle_ , I found what I thought I was looking for. It wasn't more than a few paragraphs, but it narrowed down the topic." Akira paused. It felt like it had taken so much more time to get to that point, but it was only a few weeks. _'I can't believe this wasn't really all_ that _long ago.'_

"What was the topic, Ki?" Yukio asked after she was silent for a little too long. She looked at him. His stare was intense. She started losing her nerve.

"Demon courtship," she said quietly. "I found cases similar to what was going on with us. Demons like us, I mean."

"What do you mean 'like us'? How could that possibly help?" Rin was angry. "You and Yukio are human." She turned to him now.

"Yes...and no. I'm certainly more human, but I can definitely trace demon blood on my mother's side." Akira looked down at her hands. "As for Yukio, it may not seem like he inherited Satan's power, but I'm pretty sure it's latent. He's certainly recognized as a demon by Gehenna standards. Otherwise nothing would have happened when I was touched by both of you at the same time, as innocent as they were."

"Ki, you need to finish where your research took you." Yukio was far more patient than Rin. Though he pieced together some of this weeks ago now, she hadn't gone into any real detail and he had been holding onto questions. She could tell he wanted to know everything. She smiled softly at him.

"Right." She nodded and tried to find where to begin again. "Okay, so twins are common in demon culture, more so than here in Assiah. One is usually stronger than the other, but they are ranked the same as well as bonded. It's a strong bond. One of the hardest to break.

What is far less common are demons like me. Yes, demons breed with humans, but the bloodline usually weakens over generations. I'm fourth generation, but I'm a strong lesser demon. That means that there's at least one demon to trace back to on both sides of my family. Because of my rarity, both of you, not only as high demons, but also as the heirs to Gehenna, sense that strength and wish to continue a line with me. It's not conscious. You would only think you like me." She took a few deep breaths. "A triad in demon culture is one of the strongest bonds. The greatest is a triad involving twins. This kind of bond with demon twins only happens when both are equal in strength." She let her words sink in.

"Is this why you refused to date either of us?" Of course Rin was the first to speak up. He was the more impatient of the twins.

"It is. And I recently finished reading _Infernum Vitae_ , which translates roughly to 'Hellfire Life.' It was written by Lilith, mother of demons. She was part of a triad with a set of twins, though there weren't many details in the book."

"What did that have to say though?" Yukio asked. He'd known she'd been waiting for it. She knew he was hoping that she finally had the answer she was searching for so she could make a choice. She fell back into fact mode.

"That a triad is special in Gehenna, no matter what the rank of the demons are."

"Rin's the heir to Gehenna. Can you just be with him?" Akira rolled her eyes because Yukio was being a stupid boy. ' _Again.'_ "I didn't inherit Satan's powers."

"Don't be an idiot. Were you paying attention at all to what I've been saying?" His face was downcast. "You got those powers the same as Rin. You've gotten stronger since your birth, which is why this triad is even possible. Satan's powers will come to you eventually."

"Sweet! Between Yukio and me, we can take down Satan!"

"Yukio and I," Akira corrected automatically. "And yes, that should be more possible between the two of you."

"But my powers will be different from Rin's"

"They could be, yes. The two of you will have equal strength, which I've said before. Those strengths might manifest as different powers. That's why I was picked for both of you through the bond you already share. It's said that a triad members bring the first two together. Each member compliments the other two, though it might not always _seem_ equal." She said nothing more when the twins seemed to fall into deep thought.

"Wait, so this is real? We're going to have to share you?" Rin was always the one to ask the most questions. She smiled at his inquisitive nature.

"This is where it gets tricky. We don't _have_ to be fully bound. I can be with one of you, or neither of you, or..." She flushed before she told them the last option. "Or I can be with both of you. You guys also have the same choices." She swallowed her nerves. "We would be synched, which is useful if we're in a battle, but we don't have to be in a relationship. That's one of the unique qualities of a demon triad. The members can remain independent. Lilith suggests that it's because of how long demons can live." They fell into another silence. Kira pulled out a diary Mephisto had sent her a few days ago. The cover was worn, but the binding was intact. There was no name or writing on the cover to clue her in, which irritated her. For this reason, she hadn't really spent much time on it yet. He'd left a short note tucked inside. ' _Found this. Thought it would be more useful.'_ "I haven't had a chance to look into how this affects twins though, since they are usually bound at birth. I went to Mephisto after my initial read through of Lilith's book, since he's an older demon, but he wasn't able to help anymore at the time. He sent this along after our meeting," she held up the small book, "so I'll keep you guys posted once I've finished it."

"I'm glad I don't have to give you up," Yukio started. "I would lose a part of myself watching you be with Rin. These past few weeks have been hard enough and you weren't even dating."

"And that's why I told you to stop being stupid." They smiled at each other only to have Rin pipe up less than a minute later.

"Hey! I'm not giving her up either! Just because you've known her longer doesn't mean _you_ get to be the hero here." Akira groaned as the two started going back and forth. She couldn't keep up with what was being said, but they were both standing now, which caused her heart to clench and her stomach to flip. When she saw blue flames pushing through on Rin's tail and Yukio tightening his fists, she stood quickly.

"No!" she cried coming to stand between the two. "Okay, stop this! Yukio, calm down. And, Rin, you need to work on how your emotions affect your powers."

"But he started it!" they both stated. "Me? No, I didn't!" She smacked first one on the shoulder then the other on the arm.

"Next time, I'll hit your heads." She sighed and then hopped up onto Rin's desk. "I'm not picking one of you over the other, especially right now. Stop fighting about it." She glared at both boys. Rin sheepishly looked away from her as the flames faded.

"So we're going to be a triad?" Yukio asked, his face red.

"Only if you both can come to an agreement." She crossed her arms over her chest. "We'll still be strong since you and Rin are already bound, however the strongest triad is a consummated one. But like I said, I'm not sure how this plays out." She felt nearly feverish with embarrassment until she took in their scandalized faces. She started laughing so hard she fell off the desk, barely catching herself from hitting her head on the floor.

"I have to have _sex_ with Yukio?" Rin's look of horror sent her into another round of laughter.

"No," she pushed out through the giggles. "I'm pretty sure that I would need to be with both of you though," she explained once calm, though some tittering still escaped. She stayed on the floor, leaning against the desk drawers. It wasn't the most comfortable seating arrangement, but she couldn't find it in herself to get up right at the moment.

"That doesn't need to happen anytime soon though, right?" Yukio asked.

"Nope. I don't want to bond with you guys until we all know we can handle it. Remember that I don't have all the facts yet, but I'd say that's years down the line at this point." The boys nodded. She used the desk to help her get up. "In the meantime, I'm going to use your showers. I feel disgusting." She grabbed her bag. "Plus, it gives you guys some time to talk about all of this." ' _I also need to clear my head.'_ She couldn't let them know how difficult it was to finally admit all of this to them. She felt like a weight had lifted because she had been keeping something huge from the people it concerned, but it also put her out there. ' _I can't hide from this anymore.'_

After her shower, she returned to their room. There was a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor. The boys were sitting across from each other playing some card game she didn't recognize.

"What's this?"

"Um..." Rin started as he scrambled up from the game. "We want-" he faltered again. "You were right." He was standing in front of her. She raised an eyebrow. "We need to-" he frowned.

"What Rin is trying to say is that we'd like you to stay. We need to figure out how this would work, if it's going to, and we can't do that if only he and I are part of the discussion."

"Of course I'll stay. I don't plan on going anywhere." She smiled at them. "What are you playing?"

"No, Kira. Yukio means we want you to stay the night." Rin looked nervous. "With us," he whispered as he shifted on his feet. Her face felt hot again.

"Really?" He nodded. She dropped her pack by the door, which she closed, took his hand and led him back to the makeshift bed in the middle of the room. "Okay. The question still stands: what are you playing?" They laughed at her and they settled into trying to be comfortable with things this way.

Much later in the night, Akira was between Rin and Yukio, her head resting on Rin's chest. He was drawing lazy circles on her shoulder through her shirt. Yukio was holding her right hand, which was curled around herself. She was nearly asleep when Rin spoke. Though his voice was quiet, it rumbled under her ear. She kept her eyes closed.

"How are we going to deal with this, Yukio?"

"What do you mean, Nii-san?" He sounded nearly asleep.

"I mean we're not even sixteen. Are we going to bother explaining to people what we are? Do we care that much?" Rin was fidgeting. "I want our friends to know. This isn't going to be easy." Akira yawned.

"Being Satan's son isn't easy. You handle that. Being an exorcist isn't a walk in the park, but you manage," she mumbled as she looked up at his face.

"But this is being in a relationship! It isn't my powers, or kicking ass. I've never been with someone, and the first time I'm going to try dating a girl, I have to share her with my brother." Rin fixed his eyes to the ceiling. "I never thought I would have to share a girl with him."

"You share Shiemi."

"We do not. We're just friends with her."

"Before I reintroduced myself to you, you were crushing hard on her, and jealous of your brother's relationship with the green eyed girl. In fact, I wonder if you still are," she joked as she poked his ribs. He was scowling. She sat up, stretching in the process. Yukio's hand fell to her hip, their hands staying together. "She's sweet. I don't mind," she told him as she pushed hair away from his face. Rin sat up quickly, nearly bumping his head into hers.

"What do you mean you don't mind? You want to share me with her or something?"

"Oh, Rin, no." The hurt was evident on his face, but she couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped her. "I'm sorry. I should explain." She let out a breath. "You asked Yukio how we were going to handle this. Until you finish your training, we can't be more than friends. Hang out with the Kyoto boys. Date Shiemi. Try to have some normal things in this crazy world, because once you have at least one _Meister_ and rank up, you can't be normal. Or rather, you can't _pretend_ to be normal." She felt Yukio shift, curling around her slightly

"And what are we going to do then?" he asked.

"We're going to keep doing what we do best: studying and kicking ass." She turned her head to beamed at him. He pinched her side. "Ow!" she scowled.

"I'm serious, Ki."

"So am I." Their gazes locked.

"I don't want date Shiemi," Rin interrupted their staring contest. "It's not right when I don't want to be with her. She'd end up hurt." Akira kissed his cheek.

"That's sweet of you." She laid down on her back, pushing Yukio out of her way in the process. "I could be wrong about this triad, guys," she said as everyone's breathing evened out. "It could be as simple as a petty love triangle." She echoed Yukio's words from weeks ago. He pinched her again. "Would you stop that?" She flicked his ear.

"Only when you stop being silly. You're never wrong, especially about things you have spent so much time researching." He took one of her hands and squeezed it. "Stop doubting yourself, Ki. Stop being afraid." He was smiling sweetly at her, which made her melt a little. She wasn't used to this kind of thing, even though this was mostly how the last several months had been with them.

"What did I tell you about being the hero, Yukio?" Akira giggled at Rin's annoyance with his brother. "Akira Himura, I don't want to be with another girl." She focused back on the older twin. "I'm willing to _try_ sharing you with Yukio because even when I'm being a screw up, I'm not with you. You laugh at my bad jokes and make me feel like I'm not a failure." Rin took her other hand. She felt herself hovering but didn't let go of either boy. "You're an amazing person. You see Yukio and I as individuals and you never compare us. It's more than likely why I-" Akira cut him off with her lips. She'd moved so fast he didn't get to register she sat up. He blinked before cupping the side of her face, heat spreading from his hands through her body. When she removed her hand from Yukio's grasp, she fell against Rin, sending them both back to the ground. Just as suddenly a she started the kiss, she stopped it. She sat up again and blushed.

"Sorry." She ran a hand through her still damp hair, the ends tangling around her fingers. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay." He pulled her back down to her, the warmth of his flames surrounding them when their lips touched.

"Hey!" Yukio cried before it got too far. "You never kiss me like that!" Akira broke the kiss, again, this time giggling.

"Liar!" she laughed.

"Am not! You've never cut off something I was saying with a kiss like _that_." Yukio was sulking. Akira moved to curl up to him.

"I have cut you off with a kiss."

"Not like that!" he tried to argue again.

"Alright, I'll give you that. But you still get thoroughly snogged." She didn't use her British slang often, but Yukio blushed nearly beet red just the same. She pecked his cheek.

"That's not fair! Why does he get to like fully make out with you, and I'm barely allowed to touch you?" Rin was pouting. She could tell. She shrugged, but didn't answer him.

Right before she fell asleep, she mumbled, "Up your game, demon boy."

===AH===

Akira spent the next few days balancing the last of her school work and the boys. She kept up her normal schedule, which meant that usually Yukio got more time with her. Rin had been in the gym more often during times she and Yukio were working together, but he wasn't acting like the jealous boyfriend he and his brother had both been with her in the past. When she asked him about it, he mumbled something she couldn't make out before scurrying out of the room. She let it go figuring this was part of trying to work things out. She usually made sure that she didn't end up sleeping over at their dorm all the times she visited with them late into the night, since that seemed to be the only real time all three of them got together. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but she had been sandwiched between the two talking about any and all things they could think of.

Now she was waking with the sun hitting her face. She bolted upright and checked the clock between the boys' desks, getting up when she realized she was going to be late if she didn't get back to her dorm soon.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, repeating it like a song as she buzzed around the room, grabbing her belongings. She was about to step into the hall when Mephisto appeared. She screamed, nearly falling back through the door.

"Good morning, Akira." He took off his top hat and bowed. She was catching her breath and praying Rin hadn't woken up as she closed the door. "We have things to discuss before your trip." ' _Double shit!'_ She tied her hair up into a messy bun atop her head and worked on composing herself while he spoke, the shortest strands falling out around her face. "I've been trying to figure out when would be a good time, but with your finals and all the projects, I thought I would let you focus. However, I cannot put this off anymore."

"I have a break between my two finals. Could we have this conversation then? I'm running late this morning." He tilted his head from side to side, a seemingly contemplative gesture Akira knew by now was for show.

"I supposed. I've been putting off going over your most recent research for a few weeks, a couple of hours shouldn't hurt any." She nodded. "I'll see you for lunch then. 11:15."

"Yes, sir." She bowed then hurried down the hall. She couldn't believe Yukio hadn't woken her earlier. She was going to kill him in training tonight.

"You didn't come back last night." Kamiki was sitting on her bed messing with her hair. Akira jumped. She wasn't expecting either of her roommates to still be in their dorm. They usually went to breakfast together and were gone before she got back from a run. _'But I didn't go running this morning. Did they decide to sleep in or something?"_ "So. Which one was it this time?" The younger girl felt her face heat up. She hadn't told anyone else about the triad yet. She'd been worried about Shura, but Kamiki was a force to be reckon with as well.

"I was hanging out with both, actually." She ducked her head to keep from facing her friend. Her normal curtain of hair couldn't protect her from Kamiki's stare. She busied herself with her school bag instead, emptying the contents onto her bed.

"Kira! That's absolutely scandalous!" Kamiki cried. "That's not something you should tell anyone! They'll get ideas!" Akira bit the inside of her cheek as she sorted what she needed for the day as quickly as she could. "The wrong kind." Her friend scowled at her.

"Izzy," Akira sighed, "Kio is my best friend." She glared back at the purple haired girl. One should never make assumptions. ' _Even if they are close to the truth..._ ' "Rin is his brother. It is not 'scandalous' as you put it." She then grabbed a fresh uniform opting for high socks and shorts instead of her normal tights. Paku rolled over as Kamiki hurumped.

"It is when they both like you and, in some way, you return the affection," Paku said sleepily. Akira nearly dropped her shirt.

"You have no proof of that!" She hastily shoved her arms into the sleeves, buttoning enough to tuck it in. The other petite shrugged as she climbed out of bed.

"Your face is proof enough," Kamiki commented as she finished braiding her hair. It wasn't something she did often, but it hit the back of her calves, which made Akira slightly envious. "Look, my point it that, as your roommate and sort of friend, you should be careful. Rin Okumura is bad news, not to mention a moron." Akira felt her anger starting to rise. Kamiki slung her bag onto her shoulder. "I have no objections to you being with Yukio. Any fool could tell you guys care about each other. Plus, he's at least smart and doesn't go off half cocked all the time." Akira took deep calming breaths. It would do no good to flip out on her roommate right before taking a final. She grabbed her bag, which was light for once, and held the strap tight.

"Rin is just as smart as Kio. He thinks more with his heart is all," she finally said before Kamiki could leave.

"I've said my piece. I'm meeting Bon for breakfast. Try not to take too much time, Paku." She smiled. "I'll grab you a muffin." And then she left. As Akira was about to do the same, her other friend spoke up.

"I don't actually think it's that scandalous." She walked over with a school tie loose around her neck, shirt partially buttoned. "Our world is a weird one where the rules I thought I knew don't really apply anymore." She squeezed the smaller girl's shoulder. "You have my support no matter what, Kira." She turned away without waiting for a response to finish getting ready. Akira stood still for about a minute before she rushed from the room, holding back tears. Even though they had been roommates all semester, she still didn't know how to handle having friends other than Yukio. It had been them against the world for so long. ' _Get a grip, Kira. You can break down later in training with the twins.'_ She wiped her face and raced off to her biology final.

==AH==

Akira was wrapping up her meeting with Mephisto. She had told him her theories, which he either confirmed or denied with his knowledge. He was being firm in not giving her all the answers, but at least now she could focus on topics specific to Satan.

"Now, before you go, we need to talk about that diary I gave you. Have you finished it yet?" Akira's face flushed and she nodded. It had been a short read, even though she'd been distracted most of this week, leaving her with more answers than questions. Plus it was hard to read certain parts. Other people's sexual encounters were not at the top of her must read list. The lack of details made it easier to push through the small book, but made it no less embarrassing. "Good. I think it will help you specifically." He unlocked and opened the top drawer of his desk. "This was tucked in the middle. I wanted you to read without this lingering in your mind." He handed her a photograph. It was a portrait of a young woman that looked like she could be Akira's sister. Her eyes caught Akira first, shining bright like metal glinting in the sun. But what really captured Akira's eye was the choker around the woman's neck. The locket her grandmother had sent her weeks ago was nestled between her collar bones.

"Sir, I-" Akira started only to falter as she took in more features; ones like her own. The woman's jaw was sharp with rounded cheeks and dimples on either side of her mouth. Her hair was pale, though because it was a black and white picture, you couldn't tell the actual color and pulled back from her face. It was falling over one shoulder in curls Akira envied.

"That's your great-grandmother, Akira," Mephisto said simply. She kept staring at the woman's face as he continued. "She's wearing your necklace, which is why I kept the picture." She nodded ignoring his obviousness, her thumb running over the edge of the worn stock when she noticed the way the woman's mouth curved. ' _Like mom's...'_ "Her eyes are gold." Akira set the photo onto his desk, though she didn't stop staring at it. "This is the only picture that ever caught the shine of her eyes."

"I have her eyes," she whispered once his words processed. "Wait. Are?"

"Observant as always." He smirked as she glared and crossed her arms. "She'd like to meet you." She blinked and fingered the edge of the picture.

"My grandmother always made it sound like she'd passed." She was on the edge of her seat, left elbow on the desk.

"That's because Ms. Yasu never met her." Akira took a deep breath.

"When?" she asked after slowly letting out the air.

"In two weeks time, for tea." She nodded slowly.

"Can I know her name before then?" she whispered as she picked the photograph back up. Mephisto didn't answer right away. He stayed silent for so long, she reconsidered her request. "It's alright if I have to wait. I need to get to my last final though," she said while getting up from her seat. She was almost to the door when he spoke.

"Her name is Lilith." With her hand poised over the doorknob, she looked over her shoulder at him.

"But then-"

"Yes." She clamped her mouth shut. "Do not talk about her with anyone until after tea. I will send along an exact time after the freshman trip."

"Right. Thanks, Mephisto." She left as quickly as she could, having barely enough time to get to her last final without the use of her key.

===AH===

Akira rose as early as she normally did despite enjoying dinner with her friends in celebration of completing the semester the night before and they'd hung out until the moon was high in the sky. After her morning run, she showered and double checked her bag. Even though the trip was only supposed to be a few days, she wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. Mainly, extra socks and undergarments. She met up with the other cram school freshman in front of the twin's dorm with Shura in tow at about ten.

"Holy shit, Kira! That's what you've been hiding?" Shima called out as he took in her outfit. Shura was still next to her at this point. They looked like twins with their shorts, boots, and various markings. Akira was way more modest than her mentor in black shorts that hit mid thigh and a white, long sleeved crop top that actually held her breasts where she wanted them, not that there was much to hold. "If I'd known that-"

"You would have done nothing, monk." Yukio was glaring at the other boy having just come out of the dorm. Shima gulped while the rest stared at the dragoon. He didn't usually react that way around others with Akira, especially his students.

"Be nice, Kio," she chided, rolling her eyes, as she stepped away from her mentor to stand next to him. When he pulled her tightly into his side, her stomach tightened. He was never this possessive, but it caused her to want to drag him away and continue where they left off months ago in the gym. She tried to distract herself since she'd been careful about the kind of time each boy got. "I told you before that Shima is harmless."

"What are you talking about?" Rin said from her other side. "Shima is _not_ harmless. Ask the girls he traumatizes with his pickup lines." Everyone except Shima laughed. He grumbled and crossed his arms, pouting like a child.

"Anyways," Yukio started as the group calmed down. He was now in professor mode, even with his arm around Akira. "We aren't traveling by the doors today. Chairman Faust was kind enough to provide a bus for us. This gives you all a chance to relax a little before the weekend really starts. Remember this not a vacation, but a training." She squeezed his hip lightly. She felt him jump, but no one noticed.

"And where are we getting picked up, Chicken?" Shura asked from her spot on the stairs. Yukio glared hard at his ex-trainer.

"I've told you to stop calling me that." She shrugged, indifferent as always when it came to his emotions. "We will be going to Ms. Moriyama's shop together," he continued. "She's making a few specialty kits for us. Shiemi is helping her and will be on the bus by the time we get there, I'm sure." The kids were shifting on their feet by this point, clearly wanting to get a move on. "Okay, let's head out." They were just a mass of kids moving across campus to get to the shop. Akira hadn't pulled away from Yukio other than to pick up her bag. He had his arm around her shoulder and she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. When Rin fell in line with them, his right hand entwined with her left and she felt light, but her feet didn't leave the ground for the first time all week. They had been careful about touching her at the same time since she'd told them about the triad. When the group arrived at the shop, she officially decided that Mephisto was insane. Their transportation looked like a party bus, which was likely to be more comfortable for a long drive, but it was still a bit odd.

"Whoa! That's our bus?" Yukio sighed and let her go. She leaned into Rin.

"Apparently," he answered Bon's question clearly unamused.

"Want to sit next to me, Rin?" She ran her fingers up from his hand to his wrist and traced hearts over the pulse point. He gulped and she was reminded of when this all started.

"Su-" he swallowed. "Sure." She grinned. ' _I wonder if Kio will be angry I choose to sit with Rin on the ride to Kyoto.'_ She shook away the thought, kissed his cheek, and took off to talk to Kamiki while everyone else started boarding.

"Are you excited?" she asked.

"Not really. It's one step closer to being an exorcist, sure, but this is not going to be a fun weekend." Akira frowned at her friend.

"But you'll get to hang out with Bon, right? That's gotta be good for something."

"I guess," Kamiki shrugged. Akira took her hand and squeezed it in encouragement.

"Don't look so down. You guys have been dating for a few months now. You're still happy, right?" Kamiki looked uncomfortable. "Izzy?" Akira tried when she didn't get a response. The purple haired girl started toward the bus. Akira grabbed her arm. "Come on; talk to me."

"Not right now, Kira. We've got to go." She pulled completely away from her and ran onto the vehicle. It was just Yukio and her left outside. She went to go passed him, but he pulled her against him and kissed her quickly. It was a peck, really, but with the way he had been earlier, she had to tighten her hands into fists to keep from pulling him back to her.

"Sit with me?" he asked. She shifted her weight.

"I already asked Rin," she whispered. His expression darkened.

"Right. I'm still getting used to this." He ran a hand through his hair. "I know it's only been a few days, but I'm usually better at controlling my emotions." She stood on her toes and kissed him softly.

"I'm glad you're trying." They reached for each other's hands at the same time.

"Come on, Yuki. We need to get going," Shiemi called out of a window. They blushed, squeezed each other's hands, and got on board.

Close to Kyoto Akira jolted awake, flushed and taking deep breaths. She looked around the bus. Kamiki was curled up next to Bon, both reading whatever book she was holding. Shima and Koneko were playing some game not far from the couple. Shiemi was at the front of the bus not sleeping, but not really paying attention either. Takara was curled up in a back corner across from Akira and Rin while Shura was on the other side of Yukio. Rin was stretched out reading manga, his head in her lap. She must have fallen asleep while playing with his hair and talking to the brothers. She sighed at the thought of her best friend. This week had done nothing but heighten her need to be near him. It was one of the reasons she'd wanted to sit with Rin. She needed time with both twins in order to really figure things out.

"Are you alright, Ki?" Yukio asked quietly. She met his gaze and her dream came rushing back to her. ' _His hands were ghosting up the side of her thigh from the knee only to move back down and grip her ankles lightly, repeating...She was whimpering, gripping the back of his shirt, head buried in the crook of his neck...He-'_ She blinked away the images.

"Yeah, Kio. I'm fine. Why?" She smiled at him.

"Because it seemed like you were having a nightmare. I was worried."

"Nope. I'm perfectly fine." She shifted and Rin made to get up. She looked down at him, holding onto his shoulder to keep him in place. "I was just getting more comfortable. You can stay there," she whispered. He blushed. Her thumb ran over the back of his neck and his eyes darkened.

"You might want to stop doing that, Kira," he suggested. She stilled, but didn't remove her hand.

"Why?"

"Because it-" He swallowed. "I like it," he said simply. She blushed this time, only deeper.

"Oh..." she bit her lip and looked back at Yukio. ' _This is not helping my hormones...'_ "Can I explore that in private then?" she whispered as she looked back at Rin. His eyes darkened further and he nodded. She moved her hand to rest on his shoulder before staring out the window until she fell back asleep.

They'd now been in Kyoto for about three hours. Shura was already drunk, the first two layers of protection were done, and the students were putting up their tents. Yukio and Akira were setting up the last of their wards.

"Would it be too weird to ask you to stay with me tonight?" He wasn't looking at her. She almost thought she'd misheard him.

"Aren't you bunking with Rin?" she asked instead of asking him to repeat himself as she worked on getting the line right. She wanted to make sure they were protected from all the kinds of demons hiding in this forest.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" She raised an eyebrow and looked over at him after finishing her set so they could move to the next section to work on.

"No. I'm just not sure it's the best idea." She worried her bottom lip and moved to the east quadrant to start painting there. He came up behind her.

"And why is that?" he whispered into her ear. She shivered and turned to look up at him. He was closer than she thought. She inhaled deeply. He smelled good today. ' _Like he does whenever he's worked hard...When did I start noticing that?'_

"Because-" she stepped back from him and noticed that Rin was watching them. "Never mind. Let's just finish this and then send them out." She went back to her lines and ignored Yukio as best as she could until she'd calmed down.

===AH===

 _This is the first chapter where I barely touched events in the series. Things aren't playing out quite how I envisioned them when I started, but her relationships with them are really starting to pick up. I wanted to focus on that. Sorry it's been so long since an update. I got a discouraging review and then I got uber busy. Hope this long chapter made up for it! The camping trip's events will pick up next chapter! ~Tori_


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